Emmaline J, Joint Protection Project

So far this semester, our team has managed to decide on a team name and team roles, as well as what our focus will be on during the DAP. After a brief deliberation about which joints we would be protecting, the Joint Protection Program is working on a device for the fingers. Although we were originally supposed to be working on the wrist, we were switched to the lower back and finally to the fingers. Our product is geared towards the female athletes in Roller Derby. Two of my group members have belonged to roller derby teams, and both were adamant about the danger of their fingers being crushed by other skaters. It is very important in any sport to protect your joints and bones. There are very few products on the market right now that are angled toward the protection of fingers in athletes. Since Roller Derby is such a fast-paced sport prone to injuries, we feel we are obligated to do our best to create a product for the protection of the fingers.

Right now in our project, we have studied the effects of injury to the fingers and palm , as well as the anatomy of the muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage and tissues. We have sketched out the important aspects of the hand, and begun to create a model of the bones, muscles, ligaments, cartilage and tissue. We have also created a list of questions for the customer, and done as much research as we could about injuries to the hand (although there were few sources to choose from). As of last class period, our group has been using clay, wire and pipe-cleaners to create a semi-accurate representation of the hand.

Another important step in our learning was that we were able to dissect a chicken foot. Seeing the joints in action was extremely helpful to our learning. We could see how the tendons moved muscles and bones, while relating the chicken’s foot to our own hand. One of the major things that helped us from the dissection was realizing the strength and toughness of bones and muscles, which we can take into account while creating our device.

At this point, I can say that our personal team progress is moving very quickly. Our team works smoothly together and creates ideas/carries them out without much of a hitch. We have had to remodel our model a couple of times due to lack of stable or conventional materials, but we continue to be inventive with the few supplies we have. I hope that our team can continue to stay on track as we are now, because I think we are doing well!