Ankle Exercise Device Visual Feedback Elastic Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ankle injuries often result in muscle weakness, and traditional home exercises using elastic bands can be ineffective as patients may unknowingly strengthen the wrong muscles due to improper movement, leading to inadequate rehabilitation and increased risk of re-injury.
Innovation Solution
An ankle strengthening device with a frame, adjustable cradle, and elastic member that provides resistance and visual guidance to ensure correct movement, targeting specific muscles by securing the elastic member to anchors at specific angles and positions, ensuring the patient moves their foot in alignment with the resistance direction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If patients perform ankle exercises at home using elastic bands without supervision, then rehabilitation can continue outside the clinic, but patients may unknowingly strengthen the wrong muscles due to improper movement
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates visual feedback mechanisms including alignment indicators and directional arrows that show patients whether their foot movement is properly aligned with the intended exercise plane. This immediate visual feedback allows patients to self-correct their movement without therapist supervision, ensuring they are strengthening the correct muscles while maintaining rehabilitation continuity at home.
Solution Approach 2:
The device acts as an intermediary between the therapist's instructions and the patient's execution. It translates complex therapeutic requirements into simple visual cues and mechanical guides that the patient can understand and follow independently, bridging the gap between professional supervision and home-based self-management.
2Ease of operation
If patients move their foot without proper alignment guidance, then exercise freedom is maintained, but the wrong muscles are activated and strengthened
Solution Approach 1:
The device maintains dynamic alignment guidance through movable components that adapt to the patient's movement range. The alignment indicators and elastic band tension systems dynamically adjust to provide continuous visual and mechanical feedback, allowing freedom of movement within the correct plane while preventing deviation into incorrect movement patterns.
Solution Approach 2:
The device replaces complex verbal instructions and manual correction with simple mechanical alignment guides and visual indicators. The mechanical structure itself enforces proper movement geometry through its design, substituting for the need for continuous therapist intervention while maintaining high movement accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If the elastic member is secured to anchors at multiple positions, then specific muscle targeting is improved, but device setup complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the frame into multiple standardized anchor positions arranged at specific angles and heights. This segmentation allows the therapist to select and configure the appropriate anchor points for different muscle groups without requiring a completely different setup for each exercise, reducing overall complexity while maintaining precise muscle targeting capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The device enables precise muscle targeting by allowing changes in key parameters such as anchor position, elastic band tension, and cradle angle. These parameter adjustments provide a range of exercise configurations for different muscle groups, achieving high targeting precision through simple parameter modifications rather than complex structural changes.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively isolates and strengthens specific ankle muscles by providing visual feedback and resistance, reducing the risk of strengthening incorrect muscles and enhancing rehabilitation outcomes.
Implementation Method 1
An elastic member that may be secured to the extension member and a foot of the patient
Data Source
AI summary
An ankle strengthening and rehabilitation exercise device is disclosed. The device is intuitive and simple to use by a patient even without professional medical supervision since the device indicates a specific movement of a foot by pivoting an ankle of the patient. In particular, the device may have an extension member that can be positioned on a frame of the device. The foot of the patient may engage the device. An elastic member may be secured to the extension member and the foot. The direction of the elastic member indicates the direction the foot of the patient should move by pivoting his or her ankle to specifically work or strengthen and exercise a particular ankle muscle of the patient.