Zhong Z., Chandramohan V.

Over the years, there have been enormous advances in brain research. Despite these advances, brain and central nervous system disorders remain the world¡¯s leading cause of disability, and account for more hospitalizations and prolonged care than almost all other diseases combined. Brain-related disorders alone cost the United States more than 600 billion dollars a year. Alzheimer¡¯s disease, brain injury, depression, developmental disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson¡¯s disease, schizophrenia, spinal cord injury and stroke are some of the common disorders of the brain. Some disorders caused through injuries can be prevented. Others like stroke can be managed through rehabilitation. But some diseases are not fully understood yet. Researchers and doctors are still trying to understand the root cause of these diseases, in their effort to treat them successfully. In this study, a portable vibratory device was designed and fabricated to provide a stimulus of varying intensity, rate and frequency of vibrations to assess if prolonged stimulation might be a viable alternative to helping to improve the quality of life of patients with a brain related disorder. Vibratory stimulation of varying intensity and rate was applied to the tendons of various muscles of patients with a brain related disorder. The following effects were observed: (1) there was significant improvement of up to 50 percent in majority of the patients tested, (2) the degree of improvement varied from patient to patient, and (3) the degree of improvement also varied depending on which muscle tendon that the stimulation was applied to.