Knee Injury: System Analysis

One of the most complex joints in the human body is the knee as it connects the femur and tibia. Anterior cruciate ligament is one of the four major ligaments in the knee. The role of a knee is evident not in only stabilising the body but also from everyday activities such as walking, running, sitting and performing sports. It is sufficed to say that the most common injuries in our body is knee injuries as it is very common in the sports world. Rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament is the most common type of injury.

System Modes
The technology behind smart leg brace is able to capture data of the movements of the leg and healing process and allow the physicians to monitor the motion of the leg and advice the end user without face to face
interaction. The system consists of multiple sub-components, each performing a crucial function as part of the system as a whole. The subcomponents consist of a spandex wrap, micro controller, IMU sensor, Bluetooth module and power source.
The main objective we would like to achieve is for the smart brace to monitor the angular motion of the knee to allow flexion as it heals.
The smart leg brace will be connected to an app via Bluetooth. The micro controller will send the processed data to the end user’s smart phone and shared with the physician. The app will update the values of range of motion & velocity of the knee with feedback from the physician to allow movement.
The system will be attached to a spandex wrap material; constraints on dimensions must be in place. The microcontroller, IMU and flex sensors have to be small to fit the smart leg brace and not annoy or restrict the end users movements. Added to this, there must be a restriction in the weight of the equipment and brace. The weight must be negligible only so the user cannot feel any added weight or that there is something on the knee.
By having this product it allows the user to be flexible with his or her rehab session therefore the end user won’t require constant appointment to see the physician for rehab as it can be done alone with the aid of a rehab program suggested by the physician. This allows for the physician to monitor the patients rehab and suggest movements for the knee to allow angular movements of the knee, hence the number of samples taken need to be quantified. Furthermore the memory of the microcontroller has to be measured. There needs to be sufficient memory to capture and tore the data before it sends to the smart
phone.