Head-Mounted Vibrotactile Prosthesis for Patients with Chronic Postural Instability

适用于慢性姿势不稳患者的头戴式振动触觉假肢

• 批准号: 9035374
• 负责人: B EUGENE PARKER
• 金额: $ 70.08万
• 依托单位: BARRON ASSOCIATES, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-07-01 至 2018-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9035374
• 关键词: Acceleration; Accelerometer; Activities of Daily Living; Acute; Ankle; Area; Bilateral; Brain; Chronic; Cognitive; Color; Complex; Cues; Data; Development; Devices; Disease; Electronics; Equilibrium; Etiology; Evaluation; Exercise; Feedback; Freedom; Functional disorder; Gait; Generations; Goals; Gravity Perception; Head; Health; Hip region structure; Home environment; Human; Individual; Journals; Lead; Left; Life; Location; Manufactured Baseball; Methods; Motion; Neuraxis; Outcome; Participant; Patients; Peer Review; Performance; Phase; Physical therapy; Pilot Projects; Posture; Process; Prosthesis; Protocols documentation; Published Comment; Publishing; Quality of life; Reaction Time; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Residual state; Semicircular canal structure; Sensory; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Structure; Surveys; System; Testing; Time; Training; Transducers; Vestibular loss; Visual; Visual system structure; Walking; Weight; Work; balance prosthesis; base; computerized; cost; design; disability; equilibration disorder; ergonomics; expectation; falls; human subject; improved; instrument; novel; otoconia; phase 1 study; prototype; sensor; sensory system; somatosensory; usability; vibrotactile prosthesis

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Recent advances in the size and performance of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-based inertial instruments enable the development of a novel balance prosthesis to provide feedback via a substitute sensory channel regarding head orientation to patients with chronic balance dysfunction. There is a need for balance prostheses to assist patients with chronic balance disorders, as well as for devices to facilitate rehabilitaton of such disorders through training and physical therapy. The noninvasive, discreet, turnkey BALCAP prosthesis proposed herein offers the potential to satisfy both requirements in a practicable and ergonomic fashion. The BALCAP prosthesis uses six degrees-of-freedom (6- DOF) sensing to detect postural imbalance and actuate low-amplitude vibrotactile cues directly to the head via hatband tactors that provide the wearer with feedback concerning head tilt in the pitch and roll planes (and combinations thereof). The BALCAP is designed to function correctly whether or not the participant is stationary or moving. The Phase I effort demonstrated initial feasibility for both the assistive and rehabilitative benefits of the BALCAP prosthesis. As part of the proposed research, the utility of an improved BALCAP balance prosthesis will be further evaluated in an expanded study on individuals with chronic balance dysfunction spanning a range of etiologies. Participants will undergo postural stability and gait assessments to evaluate two distinct hypotheses: (1) that performance scores improve significantly while wearing the BALCAP balance prosthesis ("assistive benefit") and; (2) that performance scores improve after a period of BALCAP-assisted therapy vs. standard therapy, even when the BALCAP is not being worn ("rehabilitative benefit"). A head-mounted vibrotactile prosthesis, such as the proposed BALCAP, will provide immediate benefit to a large number of patients with chronic postural instability. Additionally, the device has the potential to open new areas of research, such as determining the optimal training protocol to maximize residual retention of balance improvements. The availability of a practical, one-piece, noninvasive, discreet, and low-cost balance prosthesis will enhance the quality of life for balance-disordered patients and could lead to further advancements in this area.

描述（由申请人提供）：基于微机电系统（MEMS）的惯性仪器的尺寸和性能的最新进展使新型平衡假体能够通过替代感觉通道为慢性平衡功能障碍患者提供有关头部方向的反馈。需要平衡假体来帮助慢性平衡障碍患者，也需要通过训练和物理治疗来促进这种疾病的康复的装置。本文提出的无创、谨慎、交钥匙式BALCAP假体提供了以实用和符合人体工程学的方式满足这两种要求的潜力。BALCAP假体使用六个自由度（6- DOF）传感来检测姿势不平衡，并通过帽带因子直接向头部发出低振幅振动触觉信号，帽带因子向佩戴者提供有关俯仰和滚动平面（及其组合）的头部倾斜的反馈。无论参与者是静止的还是移动的，BALCAP都能正常工作。第一阶段的工作证明了BALCAP假体在辅助和康复方面的初步可行性。作为