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What is My Spoon?
My Spoon offers a modern-day solution for persons that are unable to eat independently. Even with severe limitations in arm function and hand function independency nowadays has become reality. Eating with My Spoon is safe and easy and can be done whenever one wishes.
Feeding devices for persons with limitations where available before. However they were known to have little effectiveness. Food was picked up almost by accident, there was a lot of spillage and the devices were difficult to clean. The solution chosen by the designers of My Spoon is radically different. My Spoon picks up food systematically using a combination of spoon and fork. This is done in an intelligent and elegant way, using little force and with various safety mechanisms. My Spoon can be operated in several ways and it has an easy learning curve. Food is presented in an attractive way and eating is easy, effective and almost without spilling.
Why My Spoon?
• At home
Persons that are unable to eat independently and who have to be fed are very dependent of other people which often has effects on their health. Feeding at home can be very stressing for partners or family members who often have little or no time to eat themselves. Important moments of social interaction are lost. At the dinner table feelings of not being equal to each other could interfere with normal social behaviour. Deploying My Spoon can seriously improve this situation. Eating wil again be considered a normal and above all social event.
• In institutions
In institutions asistance in feeding costs a lot of time. Feeding means 'dependency' and is an activity that returns every day. One can never be certain that human assisted feeding is of high enough quality or that the client eats or drinks enough. My Spoon allows persons to eat what they want at their own pace and whenever they want. When independent persons tend to eat more and better. My Spoon offers greater independence of the client hich leads to greater certainty and less care. Thus more quality time is left to give persons the attention they need.
For who is My Spoon?
Users of My Spoon are often persons that are unable to eat or drink independently. They have substantial limitations in arm and hand function and without an aid are unable to pick food off a plate and bring it to the mouth or to bring drinks to the mouth. Users mostly are persons
- with high transverse lesion (C4 level)
- advanced neuromuscular disorders
- neurological disorders that cause failure of the arm function
Severe spasticity can also have a limiting effect on independent eating and may indicate use of a My Spoon.
Secondary users are family members and (professional) caregivers. When a My Spoon is deployed they literally have 'their hands free'.
When can My Spoon not be used?
My Spoon can not be used when one or more of the following problems occur:
Swallowing disturbances unless indication for use of My Spoon was issued by a swallowing therapist who thinks it's safe to use
Serious chewing problems. My Spoon could be used when food is sufficiently cut or grinded
Unability to operate any controlling device like a special joystick or button
Unability to sit up straight
Serious visual problems especially when the spoon and fork can't be seen
Not sufficiently controlled muscular movement of the head that enables the user to eat off a spoon
Insufficient understanding of My Spoon control even after a long period of practice.
Persons that are in serious danger of suffocation - especially those that have problems chewing and / or swallowing - must NEVER use My Spoon. When in doubt always make sure there's someone in the direct neighbourhood to watch over the user.
Use of My Spoon
To operate My Spoon a joystick is used (standard edition). We also supply a more robust joystick for very spastic persons for instance. This reinforced joystick is used in combination with a push button. Persons that have little or no possibilities to grab the joystick only use the push button. Each control device has it's own ways of operation.
The spoon of My Spoon moves through the food compartments and picks up food in a pre-determined order. The food is held onto the spoon by a fork that slides down over the contents of the spoon. The fork does not compress the food but holds it firmly enough. Hence little of the food is spilled. When it turns toward the mouth the spoon assumes an horizontal position. The spoon stops in front of the mouth at a pre-defined position. To determine the correct position a short measurement and adjustment procedure precedes the process of eating. For safety reasons the spoon never enters the user's mouth. The fork is retracted after the spoon has stopped. Whenever the spoon meets resistance in its path to the mouth, it pulls back immediately. Even the slightest amount of resistance triggers this failsafe. The spoon comes in two sizes. The device has several specific functions for slicing the food or to empty the food compartments entirely. Users and their family members or caregivers show that a relatively short period of time is needed to learn the preparation and use of the device (usually within two to three meals).
The designers of My Spoon decided to separate drinking from the feeding functionality. Because the 'grab' function of My Spoon is aimed solely at (picking up and presenting) food it can be performed in the best possible way.
Drinks are served separately by means of a drinking standard with cupholder. This avoids the risk of burning by hot liquids (a common problem with auto-serving).
When used on a daily basis My Spoon requires little maintenance.
Normal hygiene should be considered.
Kinds of food
My Spoon makes it possible to eat all kinds of solid and semi-solid food. The presented food has to be small enough for best results. The food is placed in a plate with four compartments. Extensive research has shown that the typical 'Japanese way' in which My Spoon presents food also works fine for the Dutch and other European markets. Examples are the consumption of bread, stew, Chinese or Indian dishes, conventional hot meals and chips. Soup is usually separated in a solid and a liquid component. Very few kinds of food seem to be difficult to use when preparation is sufficient. When applying My Spoon the presentation of the food is visually appealing.
Backgrounds
The development of My Spoon took quite some time. First design attempts started in 1992. Several designs were made and tested in 'real-life' situations and were improved again and again. All this hard work resulted in introduction to the Japanese market in 2002. Because of its renewing concept and great effectiveness My Spoon gathered a lot of international interest when it was launched. The introduction to the Dutch market was given a lot of thought. FOCAL and Secom Co., Ltd. jointd forces to examine extensively if My Spoon was suited for the Dutch users and the Dutch market situation.
Experiences of lots of test users, people around them and professionals were evaluated. Points of interest were control, functionality (eating), user satisfaction and safety. By all test users My Spoon was judged 'very good' for use in the Netherlands. CE-marking for European use as medical appliance took place. An extensive manual in national languages accompanies My Spoon. With My Spoon, Secom Co., Ltd. and FOCAL Meditech BV provide an extremely efficient device. One that really works!
Links
http://www.secom.co.jp/myspoon/index_e.html
English website of Secom Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
Designer and manufacturer of My Spoon.
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