My team, The Titans have currently been working on a design that is different from previous wrist protection devices, but will still be effective in protecting the wrist joint from injuries associated with Roller Derby. One of the specific areas that I was responsible for while creating our Preliminary Design Proposal included the Physiological and Technological background information from the wrist, which basically explains the articulating bones and tissues in the wrist joint as well as some of the issues in roller derby and injuries that are common within the sport. However, I will be focusing more on the articulating bones since there are approximately 10 bones that make up the wrist joint.
According to a research done by Bethesda in 2016, I was able to learn the different bones that are associated with the wrist joint, including: The Radius, Ulna and the eight carpal bones located in the hand. As you can see based off of the illustration below, in order to have a successful wrist protection device, our team must be able to protect the bones in order for our product to be effective.
“The most commonly injured carpal bone in the wrist is the Scaphoid bone, located near the base of the thumb.”
While I conducted my research of the eight carpal bones, I came across Orthoinfo.com; a website that gives out information from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. From the website, I gathered plenty of information from the Scaphoid bone since it is the most commonly injured bone when suffering from a fracture. A Scaphoid fracture is often caused by a fall of an outstretched hand, with the weight landing on the palm. I came to the conclusion that protecting the Scaphoid bone should be The Titans main priority when coming up with a final design because our main goal is to create a sustainable wrist guard for future roller derby players. I believe that by protecting the Scaphoid bone, our team will have a better opportunity of reducing wrist injuries within Roller Derby because we know exactly which area of the wrist that needs the most protection.
Our final Design:
Our research of the wrist has significantly affected our final design because as much as we want the wrist to be protected for our Roller Derby player, the player also needs to be able to still make slight movement of the wrist while participating in the game. In order for that to occur, our team decided to use High Density Polyethylene for two main reasons: 1)Players will have the opportunity to make slight movements and have wrist protection at the same time. 2)High Density Polyethylene can be recycled, which helps my team and I come up with a product that is sustainable. To conclude, I believe my team and I will be successful in creating a product that will change how injuries in Roller Derby are seen.
Below, is our draft of our wrist protection device that will reduce injuries in Roller Derby.
StarPathDesign 
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