Design of a spring-integrated crutch for ascending stairs
Name
864436769-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
4.02 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
97338433c7298f304af3dcc125fed188
Author(s)
Fasman, Jennifer B
Advisor(s)
Hugh M. Herr.
Date Issued
2013
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Using conventional underarm or forearm crutches is uncomfortable and awkward. Further, underarm crutches make climbing stairs difficult and unsafe. One may climb stairs with forearm crutches, which do not impede elbow movement, but doing so is fatiguing and requires upper body strength. In 2011, MIT Media Lab researcher Madalyn Berns demonstrated that incorporating into the crutch an elastic element that spans the elbow joint could reduce the metabolic cost of crutching up stairs. The elastic element stores energy when compressed by the biceps; the stored energy then aids the triceps in levering the user up the stairs. This thesis developed a safer, sleeker, and more comfortable spring-integrated crutch. The novel design uses a torsion spring to store energy during elbow flexion. The spring is compressed between a forearm cuff and an upper arm cuff. The design allows the patient to reduce metabolic cost by using upper arm muscles more effectively.
Description
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. "June 2013."
Includes bibliographical references (page 27).
Subjects
Mechanical Engineering.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering
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