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Have you or someone you know ever been given a medical boot for a lower limb injury and been prescribed to only put a percentage of body weight on the injured leg?
How can you possibly tell how much weight is safe?
How can you ensure you aren't exasperating your injury or extending your recovery time?
Pressure Boot resolves these questions and makes it clear to the user exactly how much pressure is safe for them!
WHO IS IT FOR?
The pressure boot is meant for people who have an injury or condition that requires them to wear a medical boot. In their recovery, a person is advised to put only a certain amount of their body weight onto the injury, but it is difficult for them to know whether or not they are putting on too much weight.
WHY IT WORKS!
The pressure boot is capable of measuring exactly how much weight a user puts on their foot and notifying them if that weight is beyond the limit of what is recommended. Through this system, the user can better take care of their injury and prevent any further damage or complications during recovery.
User Interface
User Interface
First, the user will put the boot on their foot. The fit and weight of the Pressure Boot is similar to an average medical boot. A small panel with all the electronic will then attach to the boot.
Next, The user will turn then turn the battery pack on and set the sliding potentiometer on the side of the boot to the correct value. The battery pack can then be clipped on to the back of the boot.
This value will be based on how much they weigh + what percent of their body weight they are allowed to put on their foot.
Finally, with the device now set up the user can feel free to walk around normally.
If the user puts too much weight on their foot, the lights will flash red and the speaker will play an alert tone. To deactivate the alarm the user will simply have to shift that weight off their injured foot.
How it works
How it works
The on/off switch determines whether or not the system can read the inputs and create an output.
The speaker and red lights are activated when the velostat input is greater than the potentiometer's.
The user sets the soft potentiometer to a certain spot, which tells the system how much weight they are allowed to put on their foot. The velostat then "reads" how much weight they are putting on their foot. The input from the velostat can't be higher than the input from the potentiometer.
Materials
Materials
Rehab ankle boot
Circuit Playground BlueFruit
Battery Pack with 3x AA Batteries
Velostat
Resistors (10[kΩ], 100[Ω])
Conductive fabric
Conductive copper tape
Adafruit speaker
Soft Potentiometer
22G Wires
Future Directions and Possibilities:
Future Directions and Possibilities:
Our system currently is not durable or accurate for multiple different bodyweights. Moving forward, we would more fully realize these capabilities through the use of a button push input or dial on the interface. That way, the user can input a body weight and a percentage more easily and consistently than with a sliding potentiometer. Additionally, adding a digital interface that visually indicates the percent body weight being pressed down would be something to look into.
In speaking to physical therapists and doctors about our prototype, we have been met with lots of enthusiasm because nothing like this exists yet, and there is definitely a market for it.
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