MedJaw

Many patients suffering from head and neck cancers are afflicted with a condition called Trismus. This condition affects a patient's ability to open their mouth more than thirty-five millimeters, severely inhibiting their ability to perform basic functions such as eating and speaking. Treatment requires patients to perform physical therapy on themselves, often multiple times a day. This therapy requires patients to gradually open their mouths without using their jaw muscles, typically with a tool or device, but commercial devices are limited in scale and cost. Furthermore, Trismus affects a wide range of patients, which means such devices must be accessible to underserved regions as well as patients with various mouth sizes (children, adults, men, women). Medjaw aims to solve both of these problems by creating a new design solution to assist patients in their recovery. 

The objectives of this Physiotherapy Device revolve around accessibility while maintaining important performance metrics. The design solution must adhere to the following:

1. Fully 3D-Printed design 

2. Food-Safe 

3. Range of motion of 40 millimeters or more

4. Maximum mouthpiece thickness of 6 millimeters

5. Lifecycle exceeding ~30,000 cycles

6. Modular design for varying mouth sizes

MedJaw is an affordable and highly adaptable tool that is readily available to anyone with a 3D printer. Printed out of common and easily accessible filaments, this device is a fraction of the cost of industry-standard devices while maintaining the same functionality, even exceeding current design solutions in some metrics. Tested over 30,000 cycles, this device is made to last. Patients need only replace the spring when it fatigues to maintain the device's full functionality over its lifetime. The device is suitable for a variety of patients as the varying-sized mouthpieces are made to fit many shapes and sizes. 

The device is made of 3 general components: the housing-slider system, lever-spring mechanism, and mouthpieces. The housing-slider system interacts with the lever-spring mechanism by allowing the user to move the bottom mouthpiece along the device's arc, which opens the patient's mouth. The spring returns the device to its neutral position once the exercise is complete. Users can utilize the device to their specific needs with varying-sized mouthpieces and a hard stop to limit the maximum range of motion.