Presentation

We presented on June 5, 2014. The presentation went fairly well. We projected our voices well, which was a problem we had in the preliminary presentation. Every member of our group spoke during the presentation and described a different part of the project. We all also answered questions at the end as they were asked of us. Overall, we presented our findings and project well after working for 10 weeks on it.

Final Week Report

Throughout Week 10, the final touches have been added to the brace. All the memory foam was enclosed in spandex and glued around the frame of the preexisting brace. New padding was added to the sides of the knees on the brace as well. Individual covers were added to cover each electrode. Buttons were sewn on to do this. The adjusted sleeve and brace were then placed on the patient and a video was taken to demonstrate the design. All the components of the project were incorporated together into the final presentation. We delegated every member of the group a section of the PowerPoint and then practiced our parts. The final report deadline for the project was moved until Monday. We didn't receive feedback for our report yet, so we have not adjusted our rough draft. That will be completed by the deadline.

Future Work

The project we are working is not projected to be completed to our satisfaction in the near future. Some of the ideas the group created mostly depended on how much time we put into the project at hand. The group wanted to construct a comfortable knee brace that had a functional TENS unit attached to the side of it. The main goal was accomplished, with some added features, such as a conductive fabric to maintain voltage stability and a knee sleeve containing the conductive fabric and electrodes sewed in.

We were very interested in the idea of opening up the TENS unit and changing the voltage and current of the device. Modifying the device was a very complicated procedure and the group didn't have the expertise to do it correctly without risking serious injury to someone. With more work on the main design and knowledge of circuit boards, this goal could be accomplished in a span of one extra month. Making the TENS unit more customizable would allow a large array of different voltage shock therapy treatments for people of different leg injuries.

The most complicated innovation for this project was the thought of creating an app that controlled the TENS unit wirelessly. This idea was not possible as the group didn't having prior knowledge of making an iPhone app or any of the coding behind it. This design would be very beneficial as it could eliminate the annoyance of reaching down and changing the TENS unit settings manually.

Achievements and Failures

Achievements

• Combining conductive fabric with electrodes and TENS unit
• Sewing
• Comfortably padding brace

Failures

• Did not measure mobility through brace
• Unable to quantize how much therapy was

Materials

Conductive material
http://www.amazon.com/ArgenMesh-Conductive-Shielding-Silver-Fabric/dp/B008DXBFYQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400803176&sr=8-1&keywords=conductive+fabric
Electrodes
http://www.amazon.com/FDA-Cleared-Prescription-Required-Management/dp/B00JK0AQLE/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1400803334&sr=8-12&keywords=tens+unit
Spandex
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pants-Seamless-Inches-Short/dp/B003DC8UBI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1400804033&sr=8-2&keywords=spandex
Memory foam
http://www.amazon.com/TravelMate-Memory-Pillow-manufacturer-available/dp/B00A80N626/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A30HCXNHG4VV1T

Creo Modeling of Brace

DL link: CLICK HERE

Obtaining Conductive Fabric

5/11/14
Talked to a fashion major who mentioned some conductive fabrics and said she would ask her sewing professor
5/12/14
Above mentioned fashion major recommended we talk to Genevieve Dion who is someone who works in the fashion labs and deals with conductive fabrics
If they do not provide or sell samples, we will ask about particular purchases that can be made online