Modeling, design, and evaluation of a novel passive hand tremor attenuator for broadband suppression
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Engineering, School of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Kimanzi, Stephen M.
issued: 2024-12-23T22:52:59Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Tremors represent one of the most prevalent types of movement disorders, often leading to significant functional impairments. With the expanding landscape of research and development in addressing neurodegenerative movement disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, there is a growing focus on devising effective solutions. While existing medical interventions, including surgical procedures like Deep Brain Stimulation and medications such as Levodopa, have shown varying degrees of success, there is increasing interest in exploring alternative approaches. One such approach involves mitigating tremors by suppressing their manifestation in specific areas of the body, particularly the palm. The aim of this research is to conceptualize, design, and assess a tremor suppression device capable of attenuating tremors across multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). This is achieved by framing tremors as vibrations and employing vibration absorber design techniques to develop a passive, non-linear multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) attenuator. Through dynamic modeling of the human arm complex at the musculoskeletal level, coupled with iterative refinement of the device through rigorous experimental evaluation, the final prototype demonstrates significant efficacy in reducing tremors across multiple DOFs. Specifically targeting the most troublesome tremor DOFs of pronation-supination and flexion-extension, the device achieves reductions exceeding 70%. Patient outcomes corroborate the findings of the experimental evaluation, with a notable two-thirds retention rate observed among nearly 1000 units deployed. These results underscore the promising potential of the developed device in mitigating the debilitating impacts of neurological movement disorders. Furthermore, they lay the groundwork for the advancement of assistive devices aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals affected by such conditions.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/89989
note: Modeling, Design, and Evaluation of aNovel Passive Hand Tremor Attenuatorfor Broadband SuppressionbyStephen M. KimanziB.A.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2016M.A.Sc., The University of British Columbia, 2018A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTHE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHYinThe College of Graduate Studies(Mechanical Engineering)THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Okanagan)December 2024© Stephen M. Kimanzi, 2024The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to theCollege of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a dissertation entitled:Modeling, Design, and Evaluation of a Novel Passive HandTremor Attenuator for Broadband Suppressionsubmitted by Stephen M. Kimanzi in partial fulfilment of the requirementsof the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.Dr. Hadi Mohammadi, School of EngineeringSupervisorDr. Zheng Liu, School of EngineeringSupervisory Committee MemberDr. Ray Taheri, School of EngineeringSupervisory Committee MemberDr. Sumi Siddiqua, School of EngineeringUniversity ExaminerDr. Shahram Payandeh, Simon Fraser UniversityExternal ExamineriiAbstractTremors represent one of the most prevalent types of movement disorders,often leading to significant functional impairments. With the expandinglandscape of research and development in addressing neurodegenerativemovement disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, there is a growing focus ondevising effective solutions. While existing medical interventions, includingsurgical procedures like Deep Brain Stimulation and medications such asLevodopa, have shown varying degrees of success, there is increasing interestin exploring alternative approaches. One such approach involves mitigatingtremors by suppressing their manifestation in specific areas of the body,particularly the palm. The aim of this research is to conceptualize, design,and assess a tremor suppression device capable of attenuating tremors acrossmultiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). This is achieved by framing trem…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-02
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0447616
language: eng
degree discipline: Mechanical Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Mohammadi, Hadi
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89989