Rehabilitative apparatus for treating reflex sympathetic dystrophy

摘要

The apparatus provides active and passive exercise to the hand, wrist and forearm of the patient. It has dual handles and an attached inertia apparatus such that both the affected arm and the non affected arm are subjected to the therapy. It is theorized that in the retraining of nerve, muscle and ligament/tendon function there is cross-training of right- left part of the systems and the healthy system can assist the afflicted part of the system in retraining. The apparatus addresses specifically the range of motion of the wrist, both for flexion- extension and pronation-supination. For pronation-supination, two conical handles, one for each hand is attached through an axis to a gear system connected to a flywheel. The gear/flywheel system allows for clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of the flywheel. The patient puts the system in motion by rotating the handles in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. The rotary (oscillating) motion is transferred to the flywheel through the gears. Adjustment of the starting position of the handle allows the patient to establish the starting point as the point where the patient's strength is maximal. The flywheel stores sufficient energy during the starting input of the patient to continue rotation after the patient's strength and range of motion decreases to the point that no further active rotation is produced by the patient. The inertia in the flywheel then continues the rotation of the patient's wrist, and effects a decrease in the tendon overload which normally occurs in normal physical therapy. An alternative embodiment includes a handle attachment for flexion and extension of the wrist with the orientation of the handle effectively at right angles to the flywheel gear drive of the prior embodiment, whereby the wrist is flexed and extended in causing oscillating rotary movement of the flywheel.