Systems and methods for exerting forces on a body, including a support structure defining a space and a plurality of surface contacting units that are configured to exert force upon the body, such that the weight is distributed away from the primary weight bearing regions to non-weight bearing regions of the body, or vice versa, without exerting significant shear or frictional forces on surfaces of the body. The systems and methods may be used to exert forces to cause fluid shift in different compartments of the body. Applications include treatment of various disease conditions including pressure ulcers, heart failure, high blood pressure, preeclampsia, osteoporosis, injuries of spine and to slow microgravity-induced bone and muscle loss. The systems and methods may be used to simulate gravity, weightlessness or buoyancy, in rehabilitation medicine. The system may include a chair, bed, a wearable suit or an exoskeleton.

Disclosed is a rehabilitation training apparatus including a pair of first tracks that are arranged in parallel at an interval, a second track that is perpendicular to the pair of first tracks and is movably connected to the pair of first tracks, a hand holder that is movably provided in the second track and on which a hand of the user is held, a holder driving unit that reciprocally moves the hand holder along the second track, and a track driving unit that reciprocally moves the second track along the pair of first tracks.

A massage device includes a device body for sleeving a finger or a toe, and a massage assembly located at the device body and further including a power element, a plurality of light-emitting elements and a plurality of transparent protrusive massage bodies. The power element located inside the device body is to provide a power for moving the device body. Each of the light-emitting elements is located on a corresponding light path of a light beam emitted by the corresponding light-emitting element. When the device body sleeves the finger or the toe, the transparent protrusive massage bodies contact the finger or the toe at one acupuncture point at least. When the device body is moved, the transparent protrusive massage bodies massage mechanically the at least one acupuncture point, and the light beam penetrating the corresponding transparent protrusive massage body is to massage optically the at least one acupuncture point.

A method and apparatus to detect environmental triggers of stress and antecedent physiological stress symptoms of a patient, followed up with delivery of stress relieving therapeutic response to the patient and a chronological report of events. An embodiment comprises a first device worn by the patient that contains sensors and can transmit and receive signals and a second device used by the caregiver that can transmit and receive signals. This integrated system continuously monitors environmental triggers and physiological stress indicative parameters of a patient diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder, or other emotional or physical disorders, and compares these parameters against thresholds for the parameters. These thresholds can be configured automatically by the system—based on past episodes—or manually by the caregiver, or using automatically configured thresholds that are fine-tuned by the caregiver. When the parameters exceed the configured thresholds, several responses can be automatically generated by the system including: 1) generating therapeutic calming responses and cues to the patient to alleviate the episode, 2) sending notifications to the caregiver's device for intervention, and 3) creating a chronological assessment report of environmental stress triggers, antecedent physiological stress symptoms, and the resultant behavior of the patient.

An apparatus comprised of a plurality of engagement structures independently movable along a longitudinal axis to initially engage a mid-foot region of a foot is described. A center structure or a first set of engagement structures engage the foot in a mid-foot region, and one or more peripheral engagement structures engage the plantar surface in regions surrounding the mid-foot region independent from the structure(s) engaging the mid-foot region. Positional information about the engagement structures is obtained, and a surface map from the positional information is constructed, to determine a profile or contour for an orthotic device in which the foot is in a restored bone state.

Exemplary methods and systems can be provided for resurfacing of skin that include formation of a plurality of small holes, e.g., having widths greater than about 0.2 mm and less than about 0.7 mm or 0.5 mm, using a mechanical apparatus. Compressive and/or tensile forces can then be applied to the treated region of skin as the damage heals to facilitate hole closure, and provide enhanced and/or directional shrinkage of the treated skin area.

A posture training device is provided. The posture training device can include a belt with a body contacting portion having a body contact surface extending between a first edge and a second edge, an adjustable and releasable securing mechanism adapted to secure the posture training device around a midsection of a wearer. The posture training device can also include a vertebrae contact portion having a concave surface extending between a first end and a second end, and the concave surface can have a predetermined depth, such that the concave surface is configured to contact and support at least one vertebrae. A method of utilizing the posture training device to train the posture in a person is also provided.

Described embodiments provide a shape memory alloy (SMA) cartridge for use in providing controllable compression. The SMA cartridge includes first and second end caps, each of the first and second end caps being coupled to a passive material. One or more SMA coils extend between the first and second end caps. The SMA coils have a trained state and a deformed state, where the SMA coils are in the deformed state when a stimulus is provided thereto and the SMA coils are in the trained state when the stimulus is removed therefrom. The first end cap and the second end cap include a locking mechanism to automatically lock the first and second end caps in a fixed position relative to one another when the SMA coils are contracted.

An abdominal exercising apparatus should allow the user to strengthen their abdominal and oblique muscles in a comfortable manner. The present invention seeks to strengthen the stomach muscles and do so in a comfortable manner that allows the user of the invention to exercise in an upright seated position, while also providing a massage of the user's back muscles along each side of their spine. The present invention can be used on a bench, chair, couch, or other seating apparatus where it can be used in comfort and while engaged in other passive activities, such as, watching TV. An added benefit of the present invention is that it provides massaging of the muscles on both sides of the user's spine as it is used.

Disclosed is a sequential compression massage device using a stacked member which repeatedly applies compression force to a human body (10). The message includes: a driving unit for rotatably supporting a shake rod on an upper plate and a lower plate connected to each other through a guide rod; a pressing unit for maintaining a plurality of pressing plates in a stacked state on the driving unit by positioning the guide rod and the shake rod (34) in the pressing plates; and a control unit for sequentially shaking the pressing plates. Thus, the reliability and durability are improved in such a manner that the plurality of stacked pressing plates cause shake movement without causing a user inconvenience, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of the prevention and alleviation of venous circulation disorder.