Engineering to enhance human mobility, play, and exploration
Congratulations to Jessica for being acknowledged by the Department of Mechanical Engineering for her academic achievements and potential for success within her masters studies.
Jessica is dedicated to creating a pediatric exoskeleton which promotes improved walking patterns during daily life, outside of therapy sessions. This fellowship will allow Jessica to devote more time towards her research and studies. Congrats!
Here at the Ability & Innovation Lab we are fortunate to partner with amazing families and people who are our user experts for feedback and ideas when creating new devices and designs. Jayna and her family are fantastic partners in the design project for Jayna, alongside our undergraduate students. The second prototype is now underway to improve the comfort, donning and doffing, and applicability of Jayna’s elbow-driven device to enable the use of her left arm during two handed tasks.
UW Together presents Jayna’s story HERE.
Journal article in Prosthetics & Orthotics International:
How does the operating length of the gastrocnemius vary with different common AFOs in children with cerebral palsy?
Background: Many individuals with cerebral palsy wear ankle foot orthoses during daily life. Orthoses influence joint motion, but how they impact muscle remains unclear. In particular, the gastrocnemius is commonly stiff in cerebral palsy. Understanding whether orthoses stretch or shorten this muscle during daily life may inform orthosis design and rehabilitation.
Objectives: This study investigated the impact of different ankle foot orthoses on gastrocnemius operating length during walking in children with cerebral palsy.
Study design: Case series, within subject comparison of gastrocnemius operating length while walking barefoot and with two types of ankle foot orthoses.
Methods: We performed gait analyses for 11 children with cerebral palsy. Each child was fit with two types of orthoses: a dynamic ankle foot orthosis (Cascade dynamic ankle foot orthosis) and an adjustable dynamic response ankle foot orthosis (Ultraflex ankle foot orthosis). Musculoskeletal modeling was used to quantify gastrocnemius musculotendon operating length and velocity with each orthosis.
Results: Walking with ankle foot orthoses could stretch the gastrocnemius more than barefoot walking for some individuals; however, there was significant variability between participants and orthoses. At least one type of orthosis stretched the gastrocnemius during walking for 4/6 and 3/5 of the Gross Motor Functional Classification System Level I and III participants, respectively. AFOs also reduced peak gastrocnemius lengthening velocity compared to barefoot walking for some participants, with greater reductions among the Gross Motor Functional Classification System Level III participants. Changes in gastrocnemius operating length and lengthening velocity were related to changes in ankle and knee kinematics during gait.
Conclusion: Ankle foot orthoses impact gastrocnemius operating length during walking and, with proper design, may assist with stretching tight muscles in daily life.
Clinical relevance: Determining whether ankle foot orthoses stretch tight muscles can inform future orthotic design and potentially provide a platform for integrating therapy into daily life. However, stretching tight muscles must be balanced with other goals of orthoses such as improving gait and preventing bone deformities.
Our undergraduate researchers presented in Mary Gates Hall today, presenting their research from 11am-1pm. Member of the community, faculty, and staff stopped by to hear about Bradley and CJ’s work developing an open-source proximal control orthosis, Sasha’s wrist-driven, wrist-hand orthosis, and Michael’s work on ankle foot orthoses as a rehabilitation tool. Great job, everyone!
Peer-review paper at CHI Human Factors in Computing Systems Annual Conference:
Prostheses are more than just a tool to enhance function – they strongly influence perceptions of identity and normalcy.
Abstract: This paper is about the aspects of ability, selfhood, and normalcy embodied in people’s relationships with prostheses. Drawing on interviews with 14 individuals with upper-limb loss and diverse experiences with prostheses, we find people not only choose to use and not use prosthesis throughout their lives but also form close and complex relationships with them. The design of “assistive” technology often focuses on enhancing function; however, we found that prostheses played important roles in people’s development of identity and sense of normalcy. Even when a prosthesis failed functionally, such as was the case with 3D-printed prostheses created by an on-line open-source maker community (e-NABLE), we found people still praised the design and initiative because of the positive impacts on popular culture, identity, and community building. This work surfaces crucial questions about the role of design interventions in identity production, the promise of maker communities for accelerating innovation, and a broader definition of “assistive” technology.
View the video for more information on this work.