What  is  Cerebral  Palsy?  •  Group  of  permanent  neurological  disorders  that  affect  the  developing  fetal  or  infant  brain  

•  Neurological  disorder  affects  movement  and  posture  of  the  child,  preven9ng  full  coordina9on  and  motor  development  of  the  muscles      

•  Ac9vity  limita9ons  due  to:    -  Body  weakness  -  Muscle  spas9city  -  Rigidity  of  muscles  -  Poor  coordina9on  of  muscles  

 Children  with  Cerebral  Palsy  •  Cerebral  Palsy  is  a  common  motor  impairment  in  children    •  3.3  out  of  1,000  children  are  diagnosed  with  having  Cerebral  Palsy¹    Treatments  available  •  Physical  Therapy  •  Ortho9cs  •  Medica9ons  (e.g.,  Baclofen  or  injec9on  of  botulinum  toxin)  •  Rhizotomy  or  orthopedic  surgery  •  Spinal  bracing  

Physical  Therapy  Assessments  •  Melbourne  Assessment  of  Unilateral  Upper  Limb  Func9on  •  Quality  of  Upper  Extremity  Test  •  Upper  Extremity  Fugl-­‐Meyer  Assessment  (UEFMA)

 Electrical  S;mula;on  •  Progress  seen  immediately  •  Low  amplitude  also  promises  improvement  

 Hap;c  Master  Robo;c  System²  •  Virtual  reality  system  with  game  simula9on  •  Improves  ac9ve  supina9on  range  of  mo9on    

Results    Evalua9on  Criteria  •  Number  of  parts  •  Loca9on  and  weight  of  motors  •  Expanded  degrees  of  freedom  /  ac9ve  range  of  mo9on  •  Overall  weight  

Conclusions  •  The  first  design  proved  too  cumbersome  and  not  portable  •  The  current  design  uses  motors,  bands,  and  cuff  a[achments  to  mimic  muscle  structure  of  natural  arm  in  four  degrees  of  freedom  

•  Current  design  is  wearable  and  portable  

Materials  &  Methods  

Arm  Rehabilita;on  Device  for  Children  with  Cerebral  Palsy  Mary  Jacqueline  Hernandez,  Baoliang  Zhao, Dr.  Carl  Nelson  

Department  of  Mechanical  and  Materials  Engineering  ,  University  of  Nebraska–Lincoln  

Introduc;on  

Future  Work  •  Modifica9on  of  design  in  terms  of  material  selec9on  and  dimensional  op9miza9on  

•  Design  sleeve  for  electrical  s9mula9on  •  Prototype  the  design  •  Evaluate  prototype  for  improvements  at  outpa9ent  clinics  u9lizing  pa9ent  surveys  

To  design  an  arm  rehabilita9on  device  that  will:    •  improve  the  child’s  arm  movement  control  •  improve  range  of  mo9on    •  reduce  spas9city    

Purpose    

Acknowledgements  •  Dr.  Carl  Nelson,  UNL  faculty    •  Baoliang  Zhao,  UNL  Graduate  Student  •  UNL  McNair  Scholars  Program  

Web.resna.org  ¹Arneson CL, Durkin MS, Benedict RE, Kirby RS, Yeargin-Allsopp M, Van Naarden Braun K, Doernberg NS. Prevalence of cerebral palsy: Autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, three sites, United States, 2004. Disability and Health Journal.2009; 2(1): 45-48. ²Fluet GG, Qiu Q, Kelly D, Parikh HD, Ramirez D, Saleh S, Adamovich S. Interfacing a haptic robotic system with complex virtual environments to treat impaired upper extremity motor function in children with cerebral palsy. Developmental Neurorehabilitation. 2010; 13(5): 335-345.  

msis.jsc.nasa.gov  itl.nist.gov  

Figure  1.  1st  AutoCad  Design  

Figure  4.  Mechanics  of  Prona9on  &  Supina9on    

www.salisburyfes.com/pdfs/upper%20limb.PDF  

Figure  5.  Electrode  placement  for  reaching  exercises  

safeguardk9.com  

Figure  6.  Neoprene  sleeve  to  be  used  for  electrical  s9mula9on  

Figure  3.  Side  view  of  current  design  

Figure  2.  Current  SolidWorks  Design  motor    

shoulder  support  

band  

arm  cuff