Design an ankle orthosis to support Dave in walking hands-free!
Image description: A young man with short hair in a blue shirt is standing behind a walking aid on a red sports track.
About Dave
David is tetraplegic since a sport accident and uses a wheelchair. This however does not stop him from working as a sports teacher and giving motivational speeches. In his free time he is also very active. David plays wheelchair rugby in the national team and loves to go surfing, diving and skiing. Thanks to new technologies and neurostimulation of the spinal cord, he is now even able to walk again with a rollator.
Challenge
David is always highly active and at the forefront of therapies for quadriplegics. Using his electrical Neurostimulation, he can walk independently but he needs support such as a walking aid to stabilize himself. David found out that if his ankle is supported and stable enough, he can walk without using a walking aid. Hence, the project aims to develop a passive ankle orthosis to support and stabilize David while walking. Let's help Dave to walk hands free!
Solution
During the hackathon, Dave and the team first identified the requirements and functions that needed to fulfill the orthosis. Three main aspects have been defined:
To have a rigid but lightweight frame around the foot and the ankle.
To Maintain a precise angle of 78° at the ankle during the gait
Ensure a small (~10°) "attack" angle between the foot and the ground to faciliate the walking.
Once the physiological requirements determined, the team has iteratively built and tested the prototype with Dave to converge quickly toward a functional design. Structural design, closing mechanism, cushion and pressure point were the main focus of the team. After about 10 iterations or configurations, the final prototype was finally reached, it consists in a strong and tailored casted Ezeform Orthosis (to maintain the 78° angle) with compensation at the heel and a snow boots closing mechanims (strong and easy to operate).