Evaluation of Dynamic Seat Cushion
Many people who use wheelchairs to meet their mobility needs have difficulty relieving pressure at the seat interface, either due to lack of upper body strength to move about the seat, or as they suffer from lack of sensation which prevents detection of pain, which arises due to unrelieved pressure. Dynamic seat cushions circumvent this situation by changing the pressure characteristics at alternating points on the seat cushion interface. Shape of the cushion is controlled by air-cells which inflate and deflate in a fixed cycle, called cycle-time. These air-cells can also vary in size. This research sought to determine the efficacy in relieving pressure of these dynamic seat cushions, including the influence of cycle time and area of each cell, compared to commercially available static seat cushions.
Determining Natural Head Angle for Extant Animal Species
It has been hypothesized that the that the eye socket structure and opening for the optical nerve in the skeletal remains can be used (based on a horizontal line of sight) to accurately determine the natural head angle for a range of extant and extinct animal species. This project used this technique to predict the natural head angle for a range of extant animal species.
DVD-Guided Mental Practice for Stroke Rehab
Studies have shown that mental practice improves rehabilitation outcomes over standard therapy, but it still has not become a standard of care. We investigated a DVD-guided visualization system to enhance post-stroke rehabilitation outcomes. The visualization is not entirely mental imagery, but the patient watched a video of an ideal motion and rehearses the activity in his/her mind. The goals of this research were to 1) increase the rate of recovery and 2) increase the level of recovery for stroke patients with physical impairment of upper extremity movement. Subjects wre divided into three groups: 1) those with the novel DVD-guided visualization tool, 2) those who receive basic mental visualization training (fully mental imagery practice), and 3) control subjects who do no mental practice whatsoever. Subject function was evaluated by means of the InMotion2 Shoulder-Elbow Robot, and a streamlined Wolff Motor Function Test for upper extremity at baseline, 3 weeks, and 6 weeks after intervention. These tasks provided quantitative data on the physical capability of the each subject at each time point. Data was analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA to examine differences in speed and accuracy between the three subject groups.