An apparatus for providing physical therapy for a treated part of a body of a patient, said treated part comprising at least a part of said body of said patient, by controllably maneuvering said treated part, said apparatus comprising:
- a cradle configured for holding said treated part stably and comfortably;
- a maneuverable platform upon which said cradle rests, comprising maneuvering means configured for maneuvering said platform;
- and
- controlling means in communication with said maneuvering means, said controlling means configured to control said physical therapy by accepting external commands, said controlling means comprising:
- a moveable portion configured for interacting with said treated part;
- a base;
- a motion manipulation portion in communication with said moveable portion and said base, said motion manipulation portion comprising:
- a plurality of sensors configured to make time-dependent measurements of a member of a group consisting of:
- direction of motion, velocity, acceleration and any combination thereof of said moveable portion, said plurality of sensors configured to make said measurements for all degrees of freedom of motion of said movable portion;
- measurement conversion means for converting each of said time-dependent measurements into at least one time-dependent output signal proportional to said measurement, said measurement conversion means selected from a group consisting of said sensors, sensors in said physical therapy apparatus, and said device;
- and,
- means for transmitting each of said at least one time-dependent output signals to a transceiver;
- a transceiver configured to receive each of said at least one time-dependent output signals and transmitting each of said at least one time-dependent output signals to a storage unit;
- a storage unit configured to store said time-dependent output signals transmitted from said transceiver;
- conversion means for converting said stored time-dependent output signals to a series of command signals;
- means for transmitting said command signals to said controlling means;
- and,
- patient parameter measurement and reporting means configured to measure and report a value of at least one patient parameter;
- wherein:
- said maneuvering of said treated part is characterized by parameters selected from a predetermined set of allowed movements;
- a series of command signals are produced by the movement of said moveable portion, which, when transmitted to said physical therapy apparatus, will cause said physical therapy apparatus to undergo a series of motions identical to those of said moveable portion;
- said movable portion is independently rotatable in the sagittal, coronal, and horizontal planes;
- said motion manipulation portion is configured for rotating said moveable portion, for a predetermined duration, in the sagittal, coronal, horizontal planes in movements defined by vector of movement angles (S, C, H) where S denotes the sagittal plane, C denotes the coronal plane, and H denotes the horizontal plane, where in all planes 0° is the position of the un-tilted body part, selected from a group consisting of:
- sagittal flexion from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (≦70°, 0°, 0°);
- sagittal return from a starting angle of (≦70°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, 0°);
- coronal tilt right from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, ≦45°, 0°);
- coronal return right from a starting angle of (0°, ≦45°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, 0°);
- coronal tilt left from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, −45°≦C≦0°, 0°);
- coronal return left from a starting angle of (0°, −45°≦C ≦0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, 0°);
- horizontal rotation right from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, ≦45°) ;
- horizontal return right from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, ≦45°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, 0°);
- horizontal rotation left from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, 0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, −45°≦H≦0°);
- horizontal return left from a starting angle of (0°, 0°, −45°≦H≦0°) to an end angle of (0°, 0°, 0°);
- and in any combination of the planes thereof;
- said device further comprises at least one member of group consisting of:
- limiting means for limiting by a predetermined amount at least one motion of said physical therapy apparatus, said predetermined amount being a value lower than an analogous motion of said moveable part for at least part of a time during which at least one of said patient parameters is within a predetermined set of values relative to a predetermined set of boundary conditions;
- and, increasing means for increasing by a predetermined amount at least one motion of said physical therapy apparatus above a value of an analogous motion of said moveable part for at least part of a time during which at least one of said patient parameters is within a predetermined set of values relative to a predetermined set of boundary conditions;
- wherein said maneuverable platform is a -hexapod positioner configured to manipulate said cradle with a series of motions substantially identical to those of said moveable portion.