This paper reports the formulation of a mathematical model that describes the manual lymph drainage massage typically employed in the treatment of upper limb lymphedema. The ability to model such massage is a key feature for the development of automated physical therapy systems that aim at mimicking and assisting the therapist. This type of mathematical model can be hardcoded into a control system responsible to control a soft exoskeleton such as an upper limb sleeve. There is currently no similar model in the literature, nor is there information available about the actual forces exerted by the occupational therapists or the massage profile. Thus, this paper provides a deeper insight into the massage process, using the upper limb lymphedema as a case study. The first step of the design process was to identify the pressure amplitudes and profiles made by the occupational therapists during the manual lymph drainage. A commercial sensorized pressure glove was used to quantitatively analyze the massage. More than 50 occupational therapists wear the sensorized pressure glove when performing an upper limb drain massage and hours of pressure profiles were recorded. The loads and time spent at each compression were characterized, and the compression spots at the upper limb were identified. With the identification of the pressure sites, the respective load and the massage speed, we propose a model capable of mathematically describing the massage profile.
Published in | International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering (Volume 8, Issue 4) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13 |
Page(s) | 58-63 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Smart Textiles, Wearable Textiles, Compression Garments, Soft Orthotic Devices, Massage, Mathematical Model
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APA Style
Carlos Gonçalves, Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, João Gomes, Ricardo Simoes. (2020). Mathematical Model of the Upper Limb Manual Lymph Drainage Massage. International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 8(4), 58-63. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13
ACS Style
Carlos Gonçalves; Alexandre Ferreira da Silva; João Gomes; Ricardo Simoes. Mathematical Model of the Upper Limb Manual Lymph Drainage Massage. Int. J. Biomed. Sci. Eng. 2020, 8(4), 58-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13
AMA Style
Carlos Gonçalves, Alexandre Ferreira da Silva, João Gomes, Ricardo Simoes. Mathematical Model of the Upper Limb Manual Lymph Drainage Massage. Int J Biomed Sci Eng. 2020;8(4):58-63. doi: 10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13
@article{10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13, author = {Carlos Gonçalves and Alexandre Ferreira da Silva and João Gomes and Ricardo Simoes}, title = {Mathematical Model of the Upper Limb Manual Lymph Drainage Massage}, journal = {International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering}, volume = {8}, number = {4}, pages = {58-63}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijbse.20200804.13}, abstract = {This paper reports the formulation of a mathematical model that describes the manual lymph drainage massage typically employed in the treatment of upper limb lymphedema. The ability to model such massage is a key feature for the development of automated physical therapy systems that aim at mimicking and assisting the therapist. This type of mathematical model can be hardcoded into a control system responsible to control a soft exoskeleton such as an upper limb sleeve. There is currently no similar model in the literature, nor is there information available about the actual forces exerted by the occupational therapists or the massage profile. Thus, this paper provides a deeper insight into the massage process, using the upper limb lymphedema as a case study. The first step of the design process was to identify the pressure amplitudes and profiles made by the occupational therapists during the manual lymph drainage. A commercial sensorized pressure glove was used to quantitatively analyze the massage. More than 50 occupational therapists wear the sensorized pressure glove when performing an upper limb drain massage and hours of pressure profiles were recorded. The loads and time spent at each compression were characterized, and the compression spots at the upper limb were identified. With the identification of the pressure sites, the respective load and the massage speed, we propose a model capable of mathematically describing the massage profile.}, year = {2020} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Mathematical Model of the Upper Limb Manual Lymph Drainage Massage AU - Carlos Gonçalves AU - Alexandre Ferreira da Silva AU - João Gomes AU - Ricardo Simoes Y1 - 2020/12/31 PY - 2020 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13 DO - 10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13 T2 - International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering JF - International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering JO - International Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering SP - 58 EP - 63 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2376-7235 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijbse.20200804.13 AB - This paper reports the formulation of a mathematical model that describes the manual lymph drainage massage typically employed in the treatment of upper limb lymphedema. The ability to model such massage is a key feature for the development of automated physical therapy systems that aim at mimicking and assisting the therapist. This type of mathematical model can be hardcoded into a control system responsible to control a soft exoskeleton such as an upper limb sleeve. There is currently no similar model in the literature, nor is there information available about the actual forces exerted by the occupational therapists or the massage profile. Thus, this paper provides a deeper insight into the massage process, using the upper limb lymphedema as a case study. The first step of the design process was to identify the pressure amplitudes and profiles made by the occupational therapists during the manual lymph drainage. A commercial sensorized pressure glove was used to quantitatively analyze the massage. More than 50 occupational therapists wear the sensorized pressure glove when performing an upper limb drain massage and hours of pressure profiles were recorded. The loads and time spent at each compression were characterized, and the compression spots at the upper limb were identified. With the identification of the pressure sites, the respective load and the massage speed, we propose a model capable of mathematically describing the massage profile. VL - 8 IS - 4 ER -