DAP-Annabel Martinez

We were presented our DAP project not too long ago. Our goal is to make a working prototype of a device designed to prevent the injury of a specific joint. Our team has been researching in order to design our own original product that will hopefully bring something new and revolutionary to the market. Our team picked the knee, at the moment we are conducting lots of research about products that are already on the market for this joint and its structure, bones associated with it, etc. Injuries associated with the knee joint are very common in all sports, but we specified our product with running. Running puts a lot of pressure on your joints. I know from experience because I am a runner. There is lots of products out on the market for knee sports injuries, like knee braces, and patella straps. Many of these products look similarly alike an do relatively the same thing of keeping the patella (knee cap) in place and adding pressure to the joint. Were taking all these features in to consideration, for when we produce our own product. There’s a reason why all these products have similar features and purposes. We want to create a product using some of the features, like pressure bands and adjustable straps, but we want to use them in a very unique way that will set our product apart from the rest. Below is a picture or a knee brace you might have seen people wear from PhysioRoom.

Knee braces can be used while doing physical activity, or any daily activities. I have heard from some of my friends that they have to be adjusted frequently or don’t fit properly. Taking this in to consideration our team has come up with a series of customer interview questions, concerning the knee braces fit and its affect on mobility. We hope that this feed back and suggestions will help us in the process of designing our prototype.

To help us gain more understanding of the knee and it’s anatomy we dissected a chicken thigh, which was a first for me. During the process of the dissection I got to see how all the different tendons, ligaments, and bones work together to allow the movement of the knee. There is so many parts working together to conduct a single movement. When dissecting the chicken thigh you could see how the tendons attached the muscles to the bone and how the ligaments connected bones together at the joints. The muscles on the chicken were squishy and kind of sticky. I was also able too see and touch some fat. I saw how all the ligaments and tendons were arranged around the knee. The ligaments were very strong, yet flexible and the tendons were similar. The teacher slit one of the chicken bones in half and we were able to see inside and look at the bone marrow, which is where red blood cells are produced. It was really helpful dissecting the chicken thigh, it helped me learn more about the anatomy of the knee, because the chicken knee has similarities to that of a human.