Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to the field of medical science, and more particularly, the present invention relates to the assessment tool for sensory integration therapy for upper limb. The present invention relates to the sensory integration therapy and assessment tool in Physiotherapy. The current invention focus on assessing sensory information and at the same time with the same invention, it focuses on providing sensory integration therapy and co-ordination too. The current invention can be used as an assessment tool, which will have clearly designed subtests, with increase in complexity while testing, which helps to know patient ability to identify the objects. The current invention may be used in daily life and improve the dexterity of upper limb.
BACKGROUND FOR THE INVENTION:
[002] The following discussion of the background to the invention is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. However, it should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was published, known, or part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction as of the priority date of the application. The details provided herein the background if belongs to any publication is taken only as a reference for describing the problems, in general terminologies or principles or both of science and technology in the associated prior art.
[003] Sensory input plays a crucial role in motor rehabilitation, and impairment of the sensory system can impact the motor functions. In a study of stroke participants, about 69% have loss of sensory function in the more affected hand, and 44% in the less affected hand and 20% in both hands according.
[004] After neurological disorder such as stroke, Spinal cord injury etc., there have been noticed a decrease in sensory function. It has been suggested that a learned non-use phenomenon, occurring with sensory loss leads to further deterioration of motor abilities.
[005] Stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability. Sensation is commonly impaired after stroke; sensory impairments are associated with stroke severity, decreased motor function. Sensory deficits can delay the recovery of motor functions and cause difficulty for individuals to perform activities of daily life
[006] There is no standard assessment tool to assess the sensory deficits in patients of different conditions, especially active touch. Assessment tools like Fugl-meyer sensory function assessment tool is a passive touch assessment, patients participation is less and STI (shape and Texture Identification test) is active touch assessment tool with two subtest, the subtest one, which is identification of textures, they have used three raised dots of different sizes, however in daily life there is less use of identification of raised dots, which doesn’t seem practical. And in second subtest there is identification of shapes in which they have used a circle, a four cornered shape (square) and a six cornered shape (hexagon) in which they did not follow any order while putting them in shape identification. In Tool we have followed all measure like texture identification in which we have taken the real textures of different rough and smooth types, which patients use in daily life, and in shape identification we have followed order of three cornered shape, four cornered then six cornered but did not jumped direct to six cornered after four cornered shape. This will give a clear idea of patient identification of shape and it won’t affect patients score during assessment.
[007] The current invention is used as a tool to assess the sensory function. The current invention can be used as sensory integration therapy in any neurological disorder having sensory dysfunction. The current invention can be used to improve coordination in various neurological disorders where coordination is impaired.
[008] In light of the foregoing, there is a need for the assessment tool for sensory integration therapy for upper limb that overcomes problems prevalent in the prior art. The current invention is used to assess the active touch (Sensory functions assessment test) in patients and also used in treatment. The current invention contains two subtests, one is texture identification in which real textures like cotton, silk, wool, sand paper etc. may be used, since there is wide variety of textures it increases complexity in identifying and differentiating different textures and second subtest is of shapes identification like circle, triangle, square, hexagon. In shape identification there is an order, first patient identify three cornered shape followed by four cornered then six cornered but did not jumped direct to six cornered after four cornered shape. This will give a clear idea of patient’s identification of shape and it won’t affect patients score during assessment.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
[009] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows.
[010] The principal object of the present invention is to provide an assessment tool for sensory impairment.
[011] An object of the present invention is to provide sensory integration therapy in upper limb – hand.
[012] An object of the present invention is to provide coordination therapy for upper limb.
[013] An object of the present invention is in clinical practice to assess and treat the somatosensory function for upper limb.
[014] Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
[015] This tool consists of two subtests A.) Texture identification : different rough textures like spine texture, nodular texture, sand paper texture, denims cloth texture etc. and different smooth textures like wool texture, ribbon texture, velvet texture B.) Shape identification: shapes like circle, triangle, square, and hexagon.
[016] The present invention provides a device for sensory assessment and therapy in patients having sensory deficit and coordination issues.
[017] Treating patient who are having sensory deficit, the conventional approach is lacking biofeedback input, which may be provided through the current invention as an auditory cue will be attached to each texture. The relation of Auditory cue with each texture can be helpful in improving memory as each texture has unique sound and with the help of auditory cue, patient can be asked to determine the texture with eyes close. The current invention may also help in improving coordination of upper limb.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
[018] Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
[019] Figure 1: Exemplary embodiment for the assessment tool for sensory integration therapy for upper limb in accordance with the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
[020] While the present invention is described herein by way of example using embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments of drawing or drawings described and are not intended to represent the scale of the various components. Further, some components that may form a part of the invention may not be illustrated in certain figures, for ease of illustration, and such omissions do not limit the embodiments outlined in any way. It should be understood that the drawings and the detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claim.
[021] As used throughout this description, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e. meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense, (i.e. meaning must). Further, the words "a" or "an" mean "at least one” and the word “plurality” means “one or more” unless otherwise mentioned. Furthermore, the terminology and phraseology used herein are solely used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as limiting in scope. Language such as "including," "comprising," "having," "containing," or "involving," and variations thereof, is intended to be broad and encompass the subject matter listed thereafter, equivalents, and additional subject matter not recited, and is not intended to exclude other additives, components, integers, or steps. Likewise, the term "comprising" is considered synonymous with the terms "including" or "containing" for applicable legal purposes. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles, and the like are included in the specification solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not suggested or represented that any or all these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention.
[022] In this disclosure, whenever a composition or an element or a group of elements is preceded with the transitional phrase “comprising”, it is understood that we also contemplate the same composition, element, or group of elements with transitional phrases “consisting of”, “consisting”, “selected from the group of consisting of, “including”, or “is” preceding the recitation of the composition, element or group of elements and vice versa.
[023] The present invention is described hereinafter by various embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein reference numerals used in the accompanying drawing correspond to the like elements throughout the description. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiment set forth herein. Rather, the embodiment is provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the following detailed description, numeric values and ranges are provided for various aspects of the implementations described. These values and ranges are to be treated as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims. In addition, several materials are identified as suitable for various facets of the implementations. These materials are to be treated as exemplary and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
[024] The present invention relates to the field of sensory integration therapy and assessment tool in Physiotherapy. The current invention focus on assessing sensory information and at the same time with the same invention, it focuses on providing sensory integration therapy and co-ordination too. The current invention can be used as an assessment tool, which will have clearly designed subtests, with increase in complexity while testing, which helps to know patient ability to identify the objects. The current invention may be used in daily life and improve the dexterity of upper limb.
[025] The current invention is used to assess the active touch (Sensory functions assessment test) in patients and also used in treatment. The current invention Tool contains two subtests, one is texture identification in which real textures like cotton, silk, wool, sand paper etc. may be used, since there will be wide variety of textures it will increase complexity in identifying and differentiating different textures and second subtest is of shapes identification like circle, triangle, square, hexagon. In shape identification there will be an order, first patient will identify three cornered shape followed by four cornered then six cornered but did not jumped direct to six cornered after four cornered shape. This will give a clear idea of patient’s identification of shape and it won’t affect patients score during assessment.
[026] Assessment: As an initial step subject is asked to open the eyes and observe all the textures and shapes of the Tool with unaffected hand and later with affected hand by using the pulp of the index finger to identify the texture and shape. He/she should not use finger nail during identifying. In the second step subject is asked to close the eyes and feel the texture, identify and answer to the therapist. There are total five rounds, each round has time limit of 15 sec to identify the textures and shapes. For correct answer in each round subject is given one point for each texture and shape. The total score of texture is 40 and total score of shape is 20. Combining both texture and shape scores, the final score of Tool is 60 (Max score). According to the score obtained by the subject grading may be given like 0-10: Below Average performance, 10-25: Average, 25-30: Fair, 30-45: Good, 45-50: Very good, 50-60: Excellent performance.
[027] The tool is a square shaped wooden box with the height of 5cm, length 33cm, width 33cm. The box contains 8 different textures divided in to two categories:
- i) Five different rough textures – spine texture, rough and glittery texture, nodular texture, sand paper texture, denims cloth texture.
- ii) Three different smooth textures – wool texture, Ribbon smooth texture, velvet smooth texture. Each texture is of the length of 5.5cm
[028] The kit also has shape identification test in which 4 different shapes have been used (circle, triangle, square and hexagon) which are colored differently, each shape is of 15mm in diameter. Tool is having auditory cues, when patient touches the texture with the finger the sensors present below the texture creates a sound; these sounds are different for every texture. The textures of Tool are connected to the metal plate which acts like a sensor to cause an auditory cue. The metal plates are connected with the wires; these wires are connected to DC and AC converter. This DC/AC converter when-ever necessary can be used accordingly. These metal plates also have alternate option to take power from two general batteries of 9 volts.
[029] The box functions when connected to the switch board with the help of black cable wire that is connected to the box. In the absence of power, box can also function independently, for that ON the white button present beside the black cable connected to the box to activate the DC/AC converter connected to batteries.
- The current invention can be moved easily from one position to another as required.
- The current invention can be manufactured at a reasonable cost.
- The current invention will be extremely durable.
- The current invention is patient friendly and structurally adaptive.
- The current invention is totally safe and shock proof.
- The specification of various parts such as cloth, texture, color, shapes, sound can be modified if required.
- The current invention can be made from plywood or wood or any plastic products.
- Further modification in parts of Senaudi kit can be done.
- The current invention can also be used in lower limb with the same concept.
[030] The disclosure has been described with reference to the accompanying embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein.
[031] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments so fully revealed the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the scope of the embodiments as described herein.
[032] List of Reference Numerals:
? 1: Rough and glittery texture (5.5cm length)
? 2. Ribbon smooth texture (5.5cm length)
? 3. Sand paper texture (5.5cm length)
? 4. Wool texture (5.5cm length)
? 5. Denim texture (5.5cm length)
? 6. Nodular texture (5.5cm length)
? 7. Spine texture (5.5cm length)
? 8. Velvet texture (5.5cm length)
? 9. Triangle shape of 1.5 cm shape
? 10. Square shape of 1.5 cm shape
? 11. Circle shape of 1.5 cm shape
? 12. Hexagon Shape of 1.5 cm shape
? 13. Cable wire to connect with switch board
? 14. Switch to convert AC to DC.
, Claims:1) An assessment tool for sensory integration therapy for upper limb, the tool comprises:
- a square shaped wooden box;
- wherein the box comprises a plurality of textures divided in to at least two categories;
c) rough textures;
d) smooth textures; and
e) a plurality of shapes; each provided with metal plate as a sensor to cause an auditory cue through a speaker; wherein the metal plates are connected with wires, wherein said wires are connected to a power source;
- wherein when the patient touches the texture with the finger the tool produces a sound, wherein said sounds are different for each texture and shape.
2) The tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rough textures comprise: spine texture, rough and glittery texture, nodular texture, sand paper texture, denims cloth texture.
3) The tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the smooth textures comprises: wool texture, Ribbon smooth texture, velvet smooth texture.
4) The tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape comprises circle, triangle, square and hexagon which are colored differently.
5) The tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source comprises a main power source (separate) or an inbuilt power source (rechargeable and/or replaceable).
6) The tool as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tool comprises a DC/AC converter.