Design and development of a rehabilitation device for patients suffering from a brain related disorder

• Main Author: Vendasalam Chandramohan
• Other Authors: Zhong, Zhaowei
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Assistive technology
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/5325
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neuro-degenerative disorder. In the tremor predominant form, resting tremors, i.e. tremors occurring when the limb is held at rest are an important feature and are often distressing to the patient. Medication used to treat these patients is better able to lessen the other features of PD then ameliorate tremor. Surgical treatments such as deep brain stimulation may be beneficial, but are invasive and very expensive. Preliminary studies have shown that the application of a vibratory stimulus is able to ameliorate tremors in PD. In this project a portable vibratory device was designed and fabricated to provide a stimulus of varying intensity, rate and frequency of vibration to assess if prolonged stimulation might be a viable alternative to helping to improve the quality of life of the PD patient.