Cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants

Abstract

A cranial orthosis is contoured to match the curvature of the fronto-temporal, parietal and occipital areas of an infant's cranial vault to provide protection against the acquisition of postural cranial deformities as a result of the infant's sleeping in the supine position. The orthosis is designed to be of universal fit, as determined by the infant's fronto-occipital head circumference (FOC) measurement. The interior dimensions of the orthosis can be enlarged to accommodate growth of the infant's head without requiring replacement.

1 . A cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants comprising a protective shell having an interior surface that is conformed in shape to the surface curvature of a human infant cranium and operable to expand to accommodate infant head growth, thereby defining a cavity for receiving the head of an infant having compliant, developing head areas to be protected, the cavity being sized to provide a close, non-interfering fit of the conformed interior surface in facing relation to the developing head areas to be protected, whereby when an infant's head is received in the protective cavity, the infant's head weight forces are spread substantially uniformly across the conformed interior surface that engages one or more of the developing head areas while the infant is resting on a sleep surface in a supine position.  
   
   
       2 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the protective shell includes an interior surface means for accommodating an increase of at least approximately a 4 cm interval of infant head growth.  
   
   
       3 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the protective shell includes interior surfaces that are smoothly contoured and conformed in shape to the surface curvatures of the occipital, temporal and parietal areas, respectively, of a human infant cranium having normal size, shape and symmetry of a healthy infant of given age and gender.  
   
   
       4 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the cavity is slightly oversized relative to the head of an infant to be protected so that the infant's head can be turned from side-to-side on the sleep surface without imposing binding engagement of the protective shell against the soft developing areas of the infant's head.  
   
   
       5 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 1 , wherein the protective shell is loosely fitted relative to the head of an infant to be protected so that the orthosis can be worn while the infant is resting in a supine position on a sleep surface substantially without imposing torque forces against the soft developing areas of the infant's head.  
   
   
       6 . A cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants having a relatively soft developing head area to be protected, comprising a protective headband having an interior surface that is conformed in shape to the surface curvature of a human infant cranium and interior surface means operable to expand to accommodate infant head growth, thereby defining a pocket for receiving the head of an infant to be protected, wherein the pocket is slightly oversized relative to the head of the infant, thereby providing a close but non-interfering fit of the headband about the infant's head, the contoured interior surface being disposed in facing relation to developing head area to be protected, thereby allowing the headband to be worn while the infant is resting on a sleep surface in a supine position substantially without imposing focused torque forces on the infant's head.  
   
   
       7 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein the interior surface means is expandable in size to accommodate at least approximately a 4 cm interval of infant head growth.  
   
   
       8 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 6 , the protective headband including interior surfaces that are contoured and conformed in shape to the surface curvatures of the occipital, temporal and parietal areas, respectively, of a human infant cranium having normal size, shape and symmetry of a healthy human infant of given age and gender.  
   
   
       9 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein the pocket is slightly oversized relative to the head of an infant to be protected, thereby allowing the infant to turn its head from side-to-side on the sleep surface without imposing focused torque forces or binding engagement of the protective headband against the infant's head.  
   
   
       10 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 6 , wherein the protective headband is dimensioned for a loose fit relative to the head of an infant to be protected, thereby allowing the headband to be worn while the infant is resting on a sleep surface in a supine position substantially without imposing torque forces on the infant's head, while distributing the infant's head weight forces over a large segment its cranial vault.  
   
   
       11 . A cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in a head of an infant, the cranial orthosis comprising: 
 a crown portion;    left and right wing portions extending bilaterally from the crown portion, the left and right wing portions being dimensioned to provide at least partial overlapping coverage over the infant's parietal and temporal areas; and    left and right rostral end portions extending from the left and right wing portions, respectively, the rostral end portions being dimensioned to provide at least partial overlapping coverage over the infant's fronto-parietal and temporal areas,    wherein the crown portion, the wing portions and the rostral end portions partially expose a membranous interval of the temporal bone area, a membranous interval of the parietal bone and temporal bone areas and a membranous interval of the occipital bone and temporal bone areas.    
   
   
       12 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein the wing portions and rostral end portions are loosely fitted relative to the developing head areas of the infant to be protected, thereby allowing the helmet to be worn while the infant is resting on a sleep surface in a supine position substantially without imposing focused torque forces on the infant's occipital region.  
   
   
       13 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein the exposed membranous intervals provide air circulation and heat transfer over a substantial portion of the infant's head.  
   
   
       14 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein the crown portion, the wing portions and the rostral end portions provide for visual inspection of the exposed membranous intervals.  
   
   
       15 . The cranial orthosis for preventing positional plagiocephaly in infants as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein the wing portions and rostral end portions are dimensioned to prevent direct contact between the infant's head and a sleep surface.  
   
   
       16 . A method for preventing postural plagiocephaly in a human infant having a cranium that is substantially normal in size and curvature for its age and gender, comprising the steps: 
 (a) providing a protective appliance in the form of a shell, headband or helmet having an interior surface that is expandable to accommodate at least approximately a 4 cm interval of infant head growth, the interior surface defining a pocket for receiving the head of the infant having a soft developing area to be protected, wherein the pocket is sized to provide a close, non-interfering fit about the infant's head when the appliance is worn by the infant in a protective position in which the contoured interior surface is disposed in facing relation to the soft developing area to be protected; and    (b) causing the infant to wear the protective appliance while resting on a sleep surface in the supine position.    
   
   
       17 . The method for preventing postural plagiocephaly in a human infant as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein the step of providing a protective appliance further comprises providing an interior surface that partially exposes membranous intervals of a temporal bone area of the infant, parietal bone and temporal bone areas of the infant and occipital bone and temporal bone areas of the infant.  
   
   
       18 . The method for preventing postural plagiocephaly in a human infant as set forth in  claim 16 , further comprising the step of exposing a membranous interval of a temporal bone area of the infant, a membranous interval of parietal bone and temporal bone areas of the infant and a membranous interval of occipital bone and temporal bone areas of the infant in order to allow air circulation and heat transfer over the infant's head.  
   
   
       19 . The method for preventing postural plagiocephaly in a human infant as set forth in  claim 16 , further comprising the step of exposing membranous intervals of a temporal bone, parietal bone and occipital bone areas to allow visual inspection of the infant's head.  
   
   
       20 . The method for preventing postural plagiocephaly in a human infant as set forth in  claim 16 , including the steps: 
 (a) providing an inventory of the protective appliances, each of the appliances having a pocket conforming substantially in size and shape to the cranium of a healthy human infant of given age and gender, the inventory comprising a plurality of the protective appliances of various cavity sizes that are indexed according to age, gender and average fronto-occipital circumference values tabulated for the general infant population;    (b) measuring the fronto-occipital circumference of the infant's head; and    (c) selecting for the infant's treatment a protective appliance from the inventory that most closely matches the infant's head size, age and gender.