OrthoDocs- Brenda V.

This spring semester, us BioMed students are starting our DAP project which is to design a type of equipment to protect a specific joint of the body. My new team is named “OrthoDocs.” and our choice of joint is the shoulder. With a new team this semester, I’m excited to actually follow through the whole design process and present our final product.

Since the new spring semester has started, my team and I have researched about the joints of the body and have chosen the shoulder to focus on. In previous classes, we have done a chicken dissection, which helped us observe how the shoulder (ball and socket joint) moves. As of right now, we have started to build a replica of the shoulder in the makerspace and I am very pleased with my new teammates collaboration by pitching new ideas for the shoulder prototype.

This spring semester we are actually following through the design process unlike last fall semester. Last semester we just went up to the “select an approach” phase and presented our desired final product. We will use the experience to direct us during the whole process into making a safety gear for football player’s shoulders.

This spring semester, my team has decided to research and design a safety gear for the protection of the shoulder joint. There are many common sports that involve physical contact such as wrestling, roller derby, hockey but the major American sport is football. Our team will design a safety equipment that will be useful and fit more modern needs such as the ability to move faster for natural arm reflexes while playing football. We chose football to research because 3.58 (per 10,000) boys are at risk for shoulder injuries which is twice the risk than girls with 1.54 injuries. Out of those injuries, 39.6% are sprains while 23.7% are dislocations, 23.7% contusions, and 6.6% fractures. Shoulder injury such as ACJ (Acromioclavicular Joint), which is the breaking of collar bone or an ACS (Acromioclavicular Joint Separation), which is the separation of the humerus from the socket through tear of ligaments.

A big major change for me this semester is having a new group. In my last group we finished all of our assigned tasks on time and helped each other out to stay focus. During the first three weeks of this semester, my new group members and I have worked together very well and have even started making an anatomical joint model of the shoulder in the makerspace which I am very glad to see my team’s progress by using our creative minds work together to build a life sized prototype shoulder with limited supplies.

In conclusion, I’m excited about this DAP project with new teammates. I assume we will learn more about the shoulder and customer needs as we progress. Overall we are working very well and having fun while getting work done. Looking forward to my other teammates posts to see our progress!