Biomedical Device to recover from Knee Injury

Biomedical engineering students from Stevens Institute of Technology developed a device that monitors the angle of knee movement in injured players. The device—called a knee goniometer—recently took first place in the 37th Annual Northeast Bioengineering Conference (NEBEC) Student Design Competition, according to an announcement from Stevens.

The method of assessing recovery after knee injuries, most prevalent among athletes, can inform physicians and surgeons as to the best course of treatment, according to the announcement.

The senior design project team included biomedical engineering seniors Jaroslaw Lupinski, Patricia Roh, and Shing Cheung Yuen, and Varsha Menon, a first-year graduate student in BME. The concept for the device developed out of earlier work on knee angle measurement conducted by the team’s advisor, Research Assistant ProfessorAntonio Valdevit, a BMES member.

“While professional sports teams can afford the time and equipment to monitor their players’ knee health during recovery to ensure ideal treatment, the average patient may not have access to the tools available to reveal how a torn ligament is healing,” the announcement states.

The goniometer, a microelectronic array of sensors that deduces the angle of knee movement. As opposed to current techniques involving complex systems in a static facility, the team’s new measurement device is embedded within an everyday knee cuff. It is so mobile that athletes can wear it while practicing, allowing even non-injured players to constantly monitor their knee health.

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