Ankle Healing Aid
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Shelly Gulati
Faculty Mentor Department
Bioengineering
Additional Faculty Mentor Name
Simon Tang
Additional Faculty Mentor Name
Mark Van Ness
Abstract/Artist Statement
About 25,000 people per day in the United States alone suffer from an ankle sprain. Ankle injuries mayoccur during sports as well as everyday activities when an unnatural twisting action befalls on the ankle bone. Sprains can be categorized into various types and grades, depending on the anatomical location and severity of the injury. We have designed a pressurized ankle brace in order to assist the healing process for ankle sprain injuries that require multiple adjustments. Our ankle brace design provides comfort to the patient during recovery and also can be worn after recovery to prevent re-injury. The addition of pressure surrounding the ankle serves the need to have multiple adjustments. When the ankle first heals, it requires a stiff support to heal the ankle back in place but as the healing process continues it requires less pressure and adjusted torque to the ankle to provide comfort as well as more natural motion of the joint. The pressure is administered using a detachable hand pump and the air enters pockets encased within the ankle brace. A small, digital pressure gauge will be affixed on to the ankle brace to ensure proper amount of pressure. Success of the ankle brace will be determined by testing the ankle brace on a control group—people who have never had an ankle injury and an experimental group—people who have sustained an ankle injury.
Location
School of Engineering & Computer Science
Start Date
28-4-2012 2:00 PM
End Date
28-4-2012 3:30 PM
Ankle Healing Aid
School of Engineering & Computer Science
About 25,000 people per day in the United States alone suffer from an ankle sprain. Ankle injuries mayoccur during sports as well as everyday activities when an unnatural twisting action befalls on the ankle bone. Sprains can be categorized into various types and grades, depending on the anatomical location and severity of the injury. We have designed a pressurized ankle brace in order to assist the healing process for ankle sprain injuries that require multiple adjustments. Our ankle brace design provides comfort to the patient during recovery and also can be worn after recovery to prevent re-injury. The addition of pressure surrounding the ankle serves the need to have multiple adjustments. When the ankle first heals, it requires a stiff support to heal the ankle back in place but as the healing process continues it requires less pressure and adjusted torque to the ankle to provide comfort as well as more natural motion of the joint. The pressure is administered using a detachable hand pump and the air enters pockets encased within the ankle brace. A small, digital pressure gauge will be affixed on to the ankle brace to ensure proper amount of pressure. Success of the ankle brace will be determined by testing the ankle brace on a control group—people who have never had an ankle injury and an experimental group—people who have sustained an ankle injury.