Roxxannia's iBiomed Journal
Wrist Orthosis
At the second design studio, we received our first project, that is to develop a wrist orthosis for the patients who are suffering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Our group, Jack, Blanca and I, decided to develop a wrist orthosis prototype that not only meet the purpose of a wrist orthosis, but also provide convenience and comfort to patients.
It has four main function:
- relieving pressure on median nerve
- stabilize Wrist position and prevent movement
- removes and fastens to wrist easily
- creates minimal construction in life
Provided with only household materials (materials from an elementary school), we used 1 piece of cardboard, 1 piece of bubble wrap, electric tape and a short segment of wire to build our final deliverable
Given only 1 hour to choose our materials, sketch down our own prototypes, and build the final prototype, we were stressed and worried about the final display. However, we successfully completed all the tasks and built a nearly perfect prototype that highly constraint the wrist movement from all directions and provided comfort to patients. In addition, it is also easy to fasten or remove the wrist orthosis.
The picture on the right is my own sketch of my ideal wrist orthosis that has 4 pieces of cardboard on each side of the wrist to greatly minimize the movement. the bubble wrap underneath provides a cushion effect that the patient feels absolutely comfortable with the wrist orthosis on. The wires around the fingers reinforces the stabilization and also slightly pull the third and fourth finger upwards by 30 degrees which is the optimal angle to relieve the pressure on median nerve.