I took Jake to the prosthetics & orthotics company for his evaluation last week to see if he needs to wear a cranial band. (See prior related entries here.)
The whole process was really cool. First, the technician fashioned a little sock cap for him to wear to eliminate fibers or hair that could affect the quality of the scan. Then she attached a sensor to the top of the cap to mark the starting point for each scan.
Next, she blipped the laser scanner at the top of his head (on the sensor) and dragged it down his head all the way around (it took about eight scans to go all the way around his head.) I wasn't able to take pictures of that part, because I had to hold him still. That was as difficult as it sounds.
As she scanned, a 3-D image of his head appeared on her laptop. The first scan was pretty good, but he moved around a good bit, so we repeated the process twice more. While she scanned, he was allowed to play with some beads she gave him so that he wouldn't squirm so much. (In the picture below, he was still playing with them after we were all done.) The tech is supposed to e-mail me the 360-degree views of his head, but I haven't gotten them yet. If I do, I'll update with those later.
Eventually we got a great scan. The tech analyzed the measurements and gave me the results about 15 minutes later: Jake's skull shape is well within normal range. As a matter of fact, it is "rounder than most children's heads," she said! She couldn't clinically justify prescribing a cranial band (like the helmet Nathaniel wore, but far less bulky and restrictive), so we left with nothing but our good spirits!
Great news, as although the helmet Nathaniel wore was a very effective treatment for his plagiocephaly, it was inconvenient and quite stinky -- no matter how often I cleaned it. So we are very grateful that Jake's head is shaping up well on its own!
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