Development and Evaluation of a Pillow to Prevent Snoring Using the Cervical Spine Recurve Method.

Snoring lowers the quality of sleep, causing many secondary diseases. In response, various types of preventive devices were manufactured, but most of them were far from actual snoring prevention by only sensing snoring and giving feedback. In this study, we proposed a new method to prevent snoring by adjusting the posture during sleep by widening the oropharynx space. An increase in the oropharynx area was confirmed through the expansion of the cervical spine, and a dedicated pillow that can extend through an angle of up to 20° was manufactured. Through this developed method, it was possible to easily extend the cervical spine angle in a supine position to the user, and the frequency of snoring was then tested. As a result, it was confirmed that by using the pillow with an expansion angle of 20° or more, snoring did not occur. Furthermore, looking at the evaluation results of the subjective levels of satisfaction, sleep-related items received an average of 5.9 or higher, and function-related items received high scores with an average of 5.7. We can confirm that the reliability of performance evaluation will be dramatically improved if the scope of the subject group is expanded to include various body types, ages, and genders and conduct performance evaluations for each group.

Mallet Finger Lattice Casts Using 3D Printing.

Currently, research based on the technology and applications of 3D printing is being actively pursued. 3D printing technology, also called additive manufacturing, is widely and increasingly used in the medical field. This study produced custom casts for the treatment of mallet finger using plaster of Paris, which was traditionally used in clinical practice, and 3D printing technology, and evaluated their advantages and disadvantages for patients by conducting a wearability assessment. Mallet finger casts produced using plaster of Paris, when incorrectly made, can result in skin necrosis and other problems for patients. These problems can be mitigated, however, by creating casts using 3D printing technology. Additionally, plaster casts or ready-made alternatives can be inconvenient with respect to rapid treatment of patients. In contrast, 3D-printed casts appear to provide patients with appropriate treatment and increase their satisfaction because they are small in size, custom-made for each patient, and can be quickly made and immediately applied in clinical practice.

Effects of high intensity laser therapy on pain and function of patients with chronic back pain.

[Purpose] This study examined the effects of High Intensity Laser Therapy on pain and function of patients with chronic back pain. [Subjects and Methods] This study evenly divided a total of 20 patients with chronic back pain into a conservative physical therapy group that received conservative physical therapy, and a high intensity laser therapy group that received High Intensity Laser Therapy after conservative physical therapy. All patients received the therapy three times a week for four weeks. For the high intensity laser therapy group, treatment was applied to the L1-L5 and S1 regions for 10 minutes by using a high intensity laser device while vertically maintaining the separation distance from handpiece to skin at approximately 1 cm. A visual analog scale was used to measure the pain and Oswestry Disability Index was used for functional evaluation. [Results] In a within-group comparison of the conservative physical therapy and high intensity laser therapy groups, both the visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index significantly decreased. In a between-group comparison after treatment, the high intensity laser therapy group showed a significantly lower visual analog scale and Oswestry Disability Index than the conservative physical therapy group. [Conclusion] High Intensity Laser Therapy can be an effective nonsurgical intervention method for reducing pain and helping the performance of daily routines of patients who have chronic back pain.