The Development and Testing of a Gyroscope-Based Neck Strengthening Rehabilitation Device
Abstract
Neck pain can be debilitating, and is experienced by the majority of people at some point over the course of their life. Resistance training has been shown to have significant improvement in pain or disability for patients. There are few options available for telerehabilitation, and the use of gyroscope stabilizers is proposed for this use. A biomechanics model of a head--neck--gyroscope system was created. In order to also model the dynamics of such a system, this work proposes a blended method using the Denavit--Hartenberg (DH) convention, popular in the field of robotics, with the Lagrangian mechanics approach to analyze an unstable vehicle, the Spry--Girard derivation. A prototype single-gyroscope device was designed. A dynamics model was calculated with the proposed method validated using the prototype, with the model predicting the torques within 10% of measured values. This work will allow future optimization of both the design and any control system necessary.