Design of a physical simulator to improve the management of infant Chest Physiotherapy cares

Chest physiotherapy is widely used for newborn babies suffering from bronchiolitis, despite the lack of studies regarding the technique. Qualitative protocols for Chest Physiotherapy technique have been established but no quantitative definition has been made to prove the efficiency or to characterize the gestures. Thus, with the growth in demand for training from the physiotherapy´s community, we have decided to quantitatively characterize the gesture in order to enhance learning. So, an instrumented device has been implemented, in order to measure the relevant parameters that have been defined for an efficient gesture during the act. Moreover, as far as education is concerned, courses are mainly academic and the need of a realistic tool for learning seems to be essential to propose a didactic learning to physiotherapist students. Using such a realistic tool would allow the student to feel the limits of his gesture, before performing it on a baby. In the present study, we explain the approach we defined in close collaboration between expert physiotherapists and researchers in instrumentation, in order to design a torso simulator for learning. Its functionalities, expected by the practitioners have to be translated in terms of mechatronical functions to define the specifications. Last, the design of the structure is described.