Bio-Crutch
shock-absorbance forearm crutch with bionic design approach
The master degree project of industrial design
Iran University of science and technology - summer 2022
Professor: Dr. Naser Koleini
By: Farzane Biazaran
In our day to day life there are many situations where people are suffering from physical challenges because of some kind of accidents they are recently met with or some congenital disabilities. Access to assistive technology can be conceptualized as a human right and as a means to realize other human rights, such as employment, education opportunities and community access. According to the World Health Organization, about 15% of the world population-over a billion people has some form of disability. A census conducted in Iran has revealed that around 11 million people are suffering from a disability of some kind.
The majority of research efforts have focused on the high- end devices, such as wheelchairs, with or without a motor. The contribution of this project is to propose an improvement of low- end devices, such as crutches that can be used in more challenging environments.
Improper usage of the crutch may lead to secondary issues such as bilateral radial nerve compres-sion, crutch palsy, catching tip and falling, joint or muscle pain. Therefore, it is very necessary to redesign the usage of the crutch.
In this project, we are dealing with a forearm crutch as an assistive device. A forearm crutch with universal design approach, bionic shape and some bionic shock-ab-sorbance mechanisms, ergonomic hand and forearm grip, and two types of standing posture is developed to balance the body weight and reduce the pressure that is subjected to the patient .
It will be used for long-term walking and standing posture to avoid patient suffering.
The curvature in crutch structure is designed first to give a relative shock-absorbanceprop-erty and second give a better support for hand grip in standing position mechanism.
The elbow hinge is designed to give more movement to better accessibility of elbow in different directions while standing.
This crutch is available in 2 color themes, black and white with 3 different sizes as small, medium and large.
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