Cutting PVC pipes at the Machine Shop!

PVC pipes needed to be cut to a measured length in order to be placed underneath the wedge pillow to create a base. At the machine shop, the pipes were cut using a band saw and then "cleaned" using a sander.

Final Pillow Base


These are pictures of the pillow's base and essentially the mechanism with which to elevate it. The ply wood attached to the sides of the PVC piping have 2 'rungs'. Screws can then set themselves into these rungs, raising the top half of the base to the desired height. There are only two heights with which to raise the base as the length of the ply wood acted as a limitation.

Seventh Meeting

    The group has completed the construction of the top half of the pillow. In the following weeks, the group will have to come up with materials that could be used if the pillow was to be made in real life. Materials that have been used in the model include foam of the wedge pillow, extra firm pillow stuffing, and PVC piping. Materials that are being considered for the pillow if it were to be constucted in real life include the foam of the wedge pillow, tempur pedic memory foam, and titanium.  
    Free body diagrams will be drawn as well to help group members understand the effects of atmospheric pressure on a person when s/he is laying down or sitting upright. Additionally, a pulsoximemeter will be used to collect data concerning oxygen levels at different positions (ex. laying down, 45 degrees, sitting upright). All this data (even though they will be estimations) will help determine the best angle to position a person with COPD  so that they can take in the most oxygen.

Fifth Meeting

The group completed the Pro/ENGINEER model of the intended pillow. The group also developed a design for an elevating system that is composed of PVC piping. This system would consist of a bottom frame and a top frame as well as an intermediate piece that is attached to the top frame and hooks into the bottom frame, changing the height of the pillow. The group intends to have materials to build this system within two weeks. Materials would include PVC elbows, T's, and piping, and screws (to create a pivot point for the intermediate piece and top frame).

Figure 1. PRO/Engineer Model of Pillow.

Figure 2. Rough Sketches of pillow and base structure

Figure3. Side and top views of pillow (base not included). 

Final Diagram of Base:

Fourth Meeting

Materials for the construction of the pillow (following the idea the group came up with last week) have been purchased. The two pillow were purchased from Target while the wege pillow along with the neck support pillow were bought from BedBath&Beyond. This is different from what was planned (and written in our proposal in Week 3) as our purchases were to be made from WalMart.

While the bottom of the wedge pillow would have a beach chair mechanism attached to it, the top of the pillow would have ridges. These ridges would be made of pantyhose material stuffed with regular pillow stuffing. The ridges would then either be sewed onto the top of the wedge or laid down with wire. There will also be a small curvature toward the top half of the pillow to cradle the head and neck.

Third Meeting (April 19, 2012)

This week, the group conducted two interviews with constituents suffering from COPD (these interviews can be found in the previous posts). 

Further changed our orgiinal design. The newly proposed ideas included using a wedge as a building block and devising a mechanism to elevate the pillow when necessary. After consulting with Dr. Allen, the group considered including a pulse oximeter with the design. This would be used if a patient woke up in the middle of the night. The patient could then test their oxygen levels to determine whether the pillow needs to be adjusted.

As of this week, many ideas were proposed. The group's initial idea was to have a motor raise the pillow which later changed to having a conveyor belt mechanism with an attached ball that would move up and down, raising or lowering the pillow as necessary. Another idea was to have the patient manually stuff the pillow to raise or lower the height of it. These ideas were discounted because they would have had to be implemented inside the pillow and would thus be uncomfortable. Additionally, the motor could be a potential source of noise during the night, and manually stuffing the pillow would be labor intensive.

The group decided on one final idea. A wedge pillow would be used as a building block. The base of the wedge pillow would have a beach-chair mechanism attached to it. This would allow the patient to raise or lower the pillow if necessary.

 



Figure 1: The above image displaces an open and a closed airway.
http://dr4greatsmiles.com/dental-services/sleep-apnea-snore-appliance/











Figure 2: The above figure shows an open airway.
http://www.simulaids.com/LF03687.htm



Interview 2

Q: Do you have COPD?

A: Yes

Q: How does your difficulty breathing affect your daily activities?

A: Yes. It is hard for me to move around.  I have a difficult time bending down and lifting heavier objects.

Q: Do you take medicine to help you breath during the day?

A: No

Q: How does your COPD affect your sleeping habits?

A: I can’t really really sleep through the night.  I wake up often.  I try to move around and go back to sleep, but I never stay asleep for long.

Q: How do you deal with these problems?

A: I use oxygen.  I also prop myself using cushions.  I don’t sleep sitting up completely because it is very uncomfortable.

Q: What treatments (if any) have doctors given you to help you sleep at night?

A: I use oxygen at night, but this isn’t very comfortable.  It gets in the way when I sleep.

Q: Do you feel like you feel well rested and like you get a good night’s sleep?

A: No...I only get 2-3 hours of sleep. Like I said, I get up and move around a lot at night to try to get myself to fall asleep comfortably.

Q: Do you feel like your sleeping habits negatively affect you during the daytime, and if so, how?

A: Yes.  I am tired so on top of my breathing, it is hard to move around and get my stuff done.

Q: What would you like to see in a night-time solution?

A: I can’t really come up with anything.  I use my oxygen, and I’m not sure what would be better.