FACILITIES
Bell Hall could be considered
the "central nervous system" of the Physical Therapy program
at Husson. The fourth floor is the primary location of the Physical Therapy
faculty and staff. Also located in Bell Hall are five major laboratories/classrooms
used by Physical Therapy majors; these are the Physical Therapy Therapeutic
Skills Lab, Gross Anatomy Lab, Physical Agents Lab, Physical Therapy Research
Lab and Computer Lab. Bell Hall also contains a wing that houses
students who desire to live in a chemical-free, quiet atmosphere. The
residence wing in Bell is home to many of our PT majors.
The Therapeutic Skills Lab is used by Physical Therapy students for
practicing clinical important manual skills. It contains over 20 motorized
and fully adjustable plinths that allow for the demonstration and practice
of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular evaluation and treatment techniques.
The lab also contains all the equipment that is typically found
in Physical Therapy clinics such as pulley systems, free-weights, wheelchairs,
mats, gym balls etc. As with all Physical Therapy labs at Husson,
Therapeutic Skills Lab is open for student use 24 hours a day.
The Physical Agents
Lab contains numerous modalities for use by the Physical Therapy students
including electrical stimulation, TENS, ultrasound, paraffin, short-wave
diathermy, infrared radiation, and hydrocollator packs.
Husson's gross anatomy
laboratory is a state-of-the-art purpose-built facility dedicated for
Physical Therapy student use. The lab is housed in the department which
allows PT students to access the lab for studying 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week.
All necessary instruments and supplies,
including lab coats, are provided to the students. While in the professional
phase of the program PT students have the rare opportunity to take two
dissection courses. The first course allows the students to perform a
complete dissection that emphasizes musculoskeletal, neural and vascular
anatomy. Unique to Husson's program, after completing all clinical affiliations,
and just prior to graduating, Husson students again take an anatomy dissection
course that allows them to review and then perform detailed and in depth
dissections of regions of special interest. In this way, graduates of
Husson leave with an extremely strong background in one of the most important
areas of knowledge for clinical practice.
The Physical Therapy
Research Lab in Bell Hall contains sophisticated equipment that is dedicated
for faculty and student research. This equipment includes; a Biodex
3 machine used for measuring force production under isokinetic and isometric
conditions, an upper and lower body ergometer, and computerized cardiovascular
equipment for the analysis of EKGs, oxygen uptake and ventilatory measures.
This lab is used extensively by students and faculty as they conduct
research aimed at contributing to the body of knowledge in the Physical
Therapy profession.
In April of 2002, the
Kenduskeag Institute was officially opened. The centerpiece of the institute is
one of the most advanced human performance research labs in New England. The Human Performance Lab contains
sophisticated equipment capable of precisely measuring many aspects of
performance in both clinical and athletic populations. The lab is affiliated with the Physical
Therapy program and is available for student and faculty research and
for lab-based classes. Equipment
within the lab includes:
Clinical-grade treadmill.
Produces the very slow speeds necessary
to allow gait in neurological involved populations.
Body weight support system (Lite Gait,
Mobility Research).
Enables treadmill and overground gait in patients unable
to support their body weight.
Three-dimensional
computerized video analysis system (Peak Performance Technologies).
Permits 3D kinematic analysis of movements in clinical and athletic populations.
Portable
metabolic cart (Cosmed USA Inc.).
Using breath by breath gas analysis researchers can determine parameters
of cardiopulmonary and metabolic functioning.
Electromyographical
System (Biopac Inc.).
Allows the electrical activity from nine muscles to be recorded simultaneously.