ÿþ <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <title>Products</title> <link href="general.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="styles/check_menu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarVertical.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> </head><body class="MenuBarItemSubmenu"> <div id="container"> <div class="MenuBarItemHover" id="banner"><img src="../../Woodpecker/Website%20Pictures/tactilelogo_png.png" alt="Check Magazine" height="125" width="250" /> <ul id="check_menu" class="MenuBarHorizontal"> <li><a href="index.html">Home </a> </li> <li><a href="products.html">Products </a></li> <li><a href="aboutus.html">About Us </a> </li> <li><a href="contactus.html">Contact Us </a></li> <li><a href="http://tactilehealth.wordpress.com">News</a> </li> <li><a href="investors.php">Investors</a></li> <li><a href="researchbenefactors.html">Reasearch Benefactors</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="main_image"> <img style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://c.gigcount.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyOTI4ODAxNjc3OTImcHQ9MTI5Mjg4MDMxMDcwMCZwPTQ1NTkzMiZkPSZnPTEmbz*1YzhlOWUzNTAwYTA*OTY5YjEx/OGYzNWNlZjlkYTQ4ZSZvZj*w.gif" border="0" height="0" width="0" /><object id="embededBannersnackFlash_9cd472f825ad1658492c7332b1101013" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://files.bannersnack.net/app/swf2/EmbedPlayerV2.swf?hash_id=9cd472f825ad1658492c7332b1101013&amp;watermark=1&amp;bgcolor=#333333&amp;clickTag=null" height="220" width="800"><param name="movie" value="http://files.bannersnack.net/app/swf2/EmbedPlayerV2.swf?hash_id=9cd472f825ad1658492c7332b1101013&amp;watermark=1&amp;bgcolor=#333333&amp;clickTag=null" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#333333" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></object><noscript>To view this animated banner you need to have Flash Player 9 or newer installed and JavaScript enabled. Flash <a href="http://www.bannersnack.com/" title="BannerSnack - Free flash banner maker">banner ads</a> can be created with the BannerSnack app.</noscript> </div> <div id="main"> <div id="centre_column"> <ul id="MenuBar2" class="MenuBarVertical"> <li><a href="products.html">Introduction</a> </li> <li><a href="science.html">Science</a></li> <li><a href="results.html">Results</a> </li> <li><a href="researchuses.html">Research Uses</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="centre_text"> <h3>Historical Context </h3> <p>The Woodpecker is a step in the rich and noble tradition of scientists seeking ways to measure pain and sensory loss due to neurolgical damage. A review of patents demonstrates that the Woodpecker is the latest step of a 70 year eort to build what are known as algometers/dolorimeters which is the technical name for pain testing machines. With the advent of our Woodpecker comes the introduction into this field of high precision robotic technology and the application of advanced programmable controllers which allow the operator to have intricate control over the movement of the tip of the algometer as it presses on the body. </p> <p>The Woodpecker is the result of 3 years of intense research and development by a small but dedicated team of scientists, engineers and clinicians. We are pleased to introduce for the first time a novel device that can perform the decievingly dicult task of pressing on the human body in a precise and reproduceable manner.</p> <div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 348px; height: 334px;" alt="Testing Elbow" src="PainTestingImage.png" /><br /> </div> <p><br /> </p> <p> <strong> <h3>Product Overview</h3> </strong> </p> <ul type="disc"> <li>Quick and easy-to-use touch screen option so that the user need not learn a complex Programmable logic controller software program.</li> <li>Automatic self-calibration function before every test.</li> <li>&nbsp;Rugged motor built to last.</li> <li>Useable in a lab or a clinic setting.</li> <li>Non-invasive technology which does not break the skin.</li> <li>Pilot study done at the Toronto East General Hospital with clearance of the Hospital Ethics Committee.</li> <li>Versatile multipurpose device.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Features</strong></p> <ul type="disc"> <li>Runs with any PC or Lap top with Windows software </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Comes with all necessary drivers. </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Motion control accurate to in the order of one tenth of a millimetre. </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>None invasive device which does not break the skin. There are no invasive chemicals<br /> of any kind. It has extra safety features including a patient held stop button so that they can stop it at any time for any reason. </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Disposable or sterilizible tips to minimize the risk of infection </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Programmable for numerous parameters including: <ul> <li>Level of pressure applied (from 2 to 3300 grams)</li> <li>Duration of application of pressure</li> <li>Inter-stimulus interval duration</li> <li>Automated randomization of inter-stimulus intervals</li> <li>Number of repetitions of the pressure stimulus</li> <li> Speed of approach of the tip of the device towards the surface of the body </li> <li>Acceleration and deceleration </li> <li>Recoil of the device from the body</li> <li>Distance of movement of tip of the device towards or away from the body</li> </ul> </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Equipped with a touch screen for easy operation by a technician with modest training. The touch screen is an advanced piece of technology which is fully programmable and upgradable. </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>As with most robotic devices, it has a system to store memory of the software scripts that it uses to control the movements of the device, which enables protocols to be saved and administered to different patients or the same patient on different clinic visits.&nbsp; </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li> Integrateable with brain imaging devices </li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li>Has a system to create event markers to perform somatosensory evoke potentials</li> </ul> <p><strong>Functions</strong></p> <p>For both simple testing and ramp testing the research has unparalleled control over the stimulus and unparalleled ablity to monitor and measure the actual stimulus delivered when compared to all traditional hand held algometers and mechanical pressure testing devices. </p> <p><em>Simple Testing with the Woodpecker:</em></p> <div id="centre text"> <p>This is the act of pressing suddenly at a target force, then holding steady at that force, and then suddenly ceasing to press. This type of movement is one of the main options for testing patients and research subjects. It is used to press on tender points and trigger points rmly to assess pain. This functionality in the Woodpecker represents a dramatic improvement over other commercially available hand held algometers which are notoriously dicult to standardize.</p> <img style="width: 750px; height: 526px;" alt="Simple Test" src="SimpleTest.png" /><br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /> </span></div> <br /> <p style="font-style: italic;" width="100%">The above graph was created by programming the Woodpecker to alternately press and release for 4 seconds each. This was done ve times. This graph demonstrates that the device performed with precision and repeatability. The target force of 3kg was accurately and quickly achieved while holding steady for 4 seconds with very little error. Conventional mechanical algometers lack these capabilities.</p> <br /> </div> <p><em>Ramp Testing</em><em> with the Woodpecker:</em></p> Ramp testing refers to functionality which allows the user to command the device to either ramp pressure upwards in preset steps, or to start at a high pressure and ramp downwards. We call these two tests the "ascending ramp test" and the "descending ramp test". Both types are applicable for nding abnormal pressure thresholds in either pain syndromes or sensory neuropathy syndromes. Numerous studies conrm that most patients with bromylagia have reduced pressure pain thresholds. Precise standardizable measuring techniques which allow the researcher to nd the exact pressure pain thresholds have been sorely lacking. Diabetics with neuropathy in their feet lose light touch.<br /> <br /> For both simple testing and ramp testing the researchers have unparalleled control over the stimulus and an unparalleled ablity to monitor and measure the actual stimulus delivered when compared to all traditional hand-held algometers and mechanical pressure testing devices. For graphs of ramp testing please go to the <a href="results.html">results</a> section.<br /> <br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Deficiencies in Pre-existing Mechanical Algometers<br /> <br /> </span>All of the known pressure algometers in use for testing mechanical pain that were developed prior to the Woodpecker suffer from one or more of the following deficiencies: <br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to control the duration of time that a force was applied.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to sustain a force at a set level if the subject or the user moves.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to increase or decrease the force in a controlled manner.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to control the speed at which a force is applied to a region of the body.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to deliver the same force to the same subject repeatedly.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to deliver a stimulus at a user selected inter-stimulus interval of time.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp; The inability for the device to record document the strength, speed, timing and duration of the force applied.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The inability to synchronize the device using a TTL pulse, which serves to provide an event marker, with brain imaging and brain signal analysis modalities such as EEG and its derivatives, fMRI, NIRS, MEG, PET, NIRS to record and measure the brain s reaction to a force.<br /> " &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The lack of flexibility to position the device and direct it at a wide variety of areas of the body. <br /> <br /> <p><strong>Benefits of the Woodpecker<br /> </strong></p> <ul type="disc"> <li>Allows for a standardized pain stimulus</li> <li>Allows for Isolation of tender points</li> <li>Linear motor allows for urivalled precision</li> <li>Software gives way for instant data capture and analysis </li> <li>Software and drivers are compatible with any PC.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Specifications of the Woodpecker</strong> </p> <ul type="disc"> <li>Windows XP and Vista compatbile</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </div> <p>&nbsp; </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <script type="text/javascript"> var MenuBar1 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("check_menu", {imgDown:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarDownHover.gif", imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"}); var MenuBar2 = new Spry.Widget.MenuBar("MenuBar2", {imgRight:"SpryAssets/SpryMenuBarRightHover.gif"}); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-19452955-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 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