A Hot-Cold Sensation Testing Device

本项目旨在研制便携式冷热传感器样机。这种诊断设备将用于测试和记录患者对四肢冷热感觉的敏感度。肢体敏感度的丧失可能与各种神经学疾病或医疗条件的影响有关，如糖尿病、脊髓损伤、周围神经疾病、中风和创伤。该设备将是便携式的，可在多种环境中使用，如检查室、护理设施或治疗诊所。这项测试是一种非侵入性的程序。目前，不存在其中检查热感和冷感的方法标准化的便携式电子设备。一些诊所使用装满温水或破裂的冰和水的试管进行检测。低于5摄氏度和高于45摄氏度的温度会引起痛苦的反应，因此应该避免这些温度。通常，临床医生会要求患者闭上眼睛，描述当他们用不同温度的不同试管触摸四肢时的刺激。有时，音叉会被用作一个很酷的物体。这些技术是主观的，高度依赖于临床医生，因此，不同的临床方法往往不同。 Clinisys是一家在艾伯塔省注册成立的医疗产品公司，它希望通过设计和制造一种冷热感觉测试设备来解决这些问题。该设备集成了关键的感官测试工具，并通过其电子组件提供了一种进行可重复测试的手段。该设备旨在供职业治疗师、内科医生、神经学家和其他医疗保健专业人员使用。一个可充电电池将被用来为设备提供能量。该设备将以数字方式显示接触探头的温度，记录3-4级灵敏度的响应，并允许用户下载记录的结果。拟议的设备还可以简化和简化测试过程，增加现有用于患者感觉测试的方法的安全性、准确性和有效性；从而使临床行业发生革命性变化。

This project is to develop and build a prototype of a portable hot-cold sensor. This diagnostic device will be used to test and record a patient's sensitivity to hot and cold sensation on the patient's limbs. Loss of sensitivity in limbs can be associated with a variety of neurology disorders or impacts from medical conditions such as diabetes, spinal cord injuries, peripheral neuropathy, stroke and trauma. The device will be portable, to be used in multiple settings such as an examination room, care facilities, or therapy clinics. The test is a non-invasive procedure. Currently, no such portable electronic device exists in which the method to examine hot and cold sensation is standardized. Some clinics use test tubes filled with warm water or cracked ice and water for testing. Temperatures less than 5oC and greater than 45oC elicit painful responses so these temperatures should be avoided. Typically clinicians will ask patients to close their eyes and describe the stimulus when they touch their limbs with different test tubes of various temperatures. Sometimes, a tuning fork will be used as a cool object. These techniques are subjective and highly dependent upon the clinician and therefore, the methods tend to differ between clinics. Clinisys, a company incorporated in Alberta which offers medical products, would like to address these issues by designing and manufacturing a hot-cold sensation testing device. The device integrates the key sensory testing tool, and through its electrical components, provides a means to conduct reproducible tests. The device is targeted to be used by occupational therapists, physicians, neurologists and other healthcare professionals. A rechargeable battery will be used to provide energy to the device. The device will digitally display the temperature of the contact probe, record responses of 3-4 levels of sensitivity and allow users to download the recorded results. The proposed device can also streamline and ease the testing process, add safety, accuracy and efficacy to the existing methods used for the testing of sensation in patients; thus revolutionize the clinical industry.