Closed Kinetic Chain Shoulder Rehabilitation Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current devices for muscle strengthening and rehabilitation of the shoulder joint and upper limb in a closed kinetic chain are inadequate as they require practitioner intervention and cannot implement the active glenohumeral recentering technique effectively, which is essential for correcting misalignments and strengthening the rotator cuff without causing deleterious stresses.
Innovation Solution
A device with adjustable positioning and resistant means that allows users to exert forces in compression or traction, positioned above and laterally to the limb, enabling active glenohumeral recentering without practitioner intervention, featuring a work assembly with adjustable orientation and force measurement capabilities, allowing for repetitive and quantified exercises.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If practitioner intervention is used to guide active glenohumeral recentering, then rehabilitation effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and operational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables patients to perform closed kinetic chain exercises independently without continuous practitioner guidance. The positioning means and work assembly are designed to automatically guide the limb through the correct movement trajectory, allowing patients to self-monitor and self-correct their exercise form while maintaining therapeutic effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The device acts as an intermediary between the practitioner's initial setup instructions and the patient's independent exercise execution. The positioning means, support means, and resistant means work together as a coordinated system that translates complex rehabilitation protocols into automated mechanical guidance, reducing the need for ongoing practitioner intervention.
2Strength
If open chain strengthening exercises are performed, then muscle strength is improved, but harmful off-centering stresses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device inverts the traditional open-chain exercise approach by implementing closed kinetic chain exercises where the hand is fixed against the resistant means and the limb moves instead. This reversal of the movement paradigm transforms harmful off-centering stresses into beneficial compressive forces that promote joint recentering while maintaining muscle strengthening effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The device changes the fundamental parameters of the exercise by transitioning from open to closed kinetic chain mechanics. The positioning means constrain the limb to specific trajectories, the support means provide stable mechanical advantage, and the resistant means apply force in controlled directions, collectively transforming the stress distribution from harmful off-centering to beneficial joint compression.
3Strength
If closed kinetic chain exercises are performed without proper positioning, then muscle strengthening occurs, but joint misalignment correction is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning means are configured to pre-establish the correct anatomical alignment and movement trajectory before the exercise begins. The support means are pre-adjusted to provide appropriate mechanical guidance, ensuring that the limb starts in the optimal position for both joint recentering and muscle activation, thereby eliminating the need for continuous corrective intervention during exercise execution.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
An apparatus (1) for closed kinetic chain muscle strengthening and/or rehabilitation of the shoulder joint and of the upper limb. It comprises means (2) for positioning the user or patient (H), a working assembly (3) comprising resisting means (30), allowing the user or patient (H) to exert efforts, support means (4) which connect the working assembly (3) to the positioning means (2), and which are fitted with adjusting means for positioning and orienting the working assembly (3) in space. The support means (4) and also the adjusting means are configured such that the resisting means (30) can be positioned, relative to the user or patient (H), above and laterally on the side of the limb to be worked, which is positioned outstretched, raised in the plane of the scapula until it is along the extension of the subcutaneous part of the spine of the scapula.