Project

Anchor 1

Knee injuries are one of the most common faced by athletes.

Some of these injuries can end careers as they can mean surgery and months on rehabilitation.

One way of finding athletes that at a high risk of developing knee injuries, such as ligament tears, is by measuring their knee abduction moment (KAM).

By measuring KAM in real-time, we can quickly assess if certain athletes are at risk and give them opportunity to change their technique and reduce their risk.

Device Requirements

1 Real-time Mechanics Data

2 Allow Normal Movement

3 Lightweight and Portable

4 Under Budget and Affordable

Anchor 2

Develop a Prototype

To develop a prototype, we first generated a concept of measuring the knee abduction moment by using the ground reaction force and the movement of the knee to calculate values through equations of motion.

Suitable parts were then selected and integrated on a wearable device.

Anchor 3

Verification and Validiation

The accuracy of the device was checked two different sets of experiments. First, verification experiments were carried out where the device was attached to an athlete . They then ran at different speeds to determine if the device produced acceptable values of KAM. Then, the same athlete walked and ran to the same speed in motion capture trials. The data from this was used in OpenSim simulations to calculate the KAM.

A comparison between the verification and validation revealed that the KIPS was accurate at lower speeds but not at 5 m/s.