The Genius Genus Knee Brace Kit
Grade Level at Time of Presentation
Secondary School
Institution
Project Lead The Way - Kentucky
KY House District #
78
KY Senate District #
17
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Julye Adams
Abstract
Modern knee braces offer a diverse array of options for patients. Recently, however, the efficiency of some of these braces has come in question. Knee injury patients can choose between different types of braces such as a low-support, compression brace, a complicated functional brace and everything in between. All of these options ultimately result in a lose-lose situation for those recovering from knee injuries or moderate surgeries. The Genius Genus Knee Brace Kit is a medium-grade knee brace packaged into a kit for the patient to customize for themselves. It is designed for patients with mild to moderate knee injuries, typically the group of patients that most often experience less effective and almost placebic products for the recovery process. Our kit would be offered in a medical retail setting, and offers a sturdy support form for the “cast” phase with crutches, a range of motion support form for the next stage of recovery (most commonly physical therapy), and a simple compression brace form for the final stages of recovery to offer more comfort. This brace can also be easily assembled and disassembled so that patients are able to form the brace to themselves during at-home recovery. Once our prototype was developed, we conducted a survey on seven physical therapy patients, under the supervision of Dr. Brittany Conner. Five out of seven patients said they felt more comfortable in our brace versus a competitor, and they all said they felt equally as supported. Budgets for development were met as expected, so the total price for our first model is forty dollars. If we continued this project past the prototype phase, we would update the model using patient feedback and look for a collaborator to contribute funds for manufacturing and further testing.
The Genius Genus Knee Brace Kit
Modern knee braces offer a diverse array of options for patients. Recently, however, the efficiency of some of these braces has come in question. Knee injury patients can choose between different types of braces such as a low-support, compression brace, a complicated functional brace and everything in between. All of these options ultimately result in a lose-lose situation for those recovering from knee injuries or moderate surgeries. The Genius Genus Knee Brace Kit is a medium-grade knee brace packaged into a kit for the patient to customize for themselves. It is designed for patients with mild to moderate knee injuries, typically the group of patients that most often experience less effective and almost placebic products for the recovery process. Our kit would be offered in a medical retail setting, and offers a sturdy support form for the “cast” phase with crutches, a range of motion support form for the next stage of recovery (most commonly physical therapy), and a simple compression brace form for the final stages of recovery to offer more comfort. This brace can also be easily assembled and disassembled so that patients are able to form the brace to themselves during at-home recovery. Once our prototype was developed, we conducted a survey on seven physical therapy patients, under the supervision of Dr. Brittany Conner. Five out of seven patients said they felt more comfortable in our brace versus a competitor, and they all said they felt equally as supported. Budgets for development were met as expected, so the total price for our first model is forty dollars. If we continued this project past the prototype phase, we would update the model using patient feedback and look for a collaborator to contribute funds for manufacturing and further testing.