A Novel Single-Loop Mechanism for Neck Rehabilitation

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Engineering

Background:

• Neck pain resulting from trauma, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and head and neck cancer (HNC) necessitates effective therapeutic interventions.
• Static and dynamic neck braces are crucial for recovery, impairment quantification, and therapy setup.
• Existing neck brace mechanisms, including serial and parallel types, have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and analyze a novel single-loop spherical mechanism for potential application in neck braces.
• To evaluate the mechanism's kinematics and mobility for neck brace functionality.
• To perform dimensional synthesis to match the human neck's orientation workspace.

Main Methods:

• Kinematic and mobility analyses of the proposed single-loop spherical mechanism.
• Dimensional synthesis to determine geometric constants for desired workspace.
• Comparison with existing neck brace mechanisms.

Main Results:

• The proposed single-loop spherical mechanism demonstrates effective kinematics and mobility for neck brace applications.
• Dimensional synthesis achieved a workspace comparable to the human neck's orientation capabilities.
• The new mechanism addresses concerns associated with previously proposed designs.

Conclusions:

• The novel single-loop spherical mechanism is a viable and effective option for neck brace development.
• This mechanism has the potential to improve therapeutic outcomes for neck dysfunction.
• The design offers advantages over existing mechanisms in terms of functionality and workspace replication.