Yuzhou Yan, Ruitao Gong, Mengzhao Cao, Bing Han, Hui Li, Geng Liu
Knee braces are commonly used to support the knee joint and improve function. However, brace sliding caused by the misalignment between brace and knee during motion is a common problem, which reduces the therapeutic effect and leads to brace abandonment. To investigate the effect of mechanism combinations on sliding, an experimental brace was designed to isolate the mechanism as the sole variable. Ten healthy participants were recruited, each of whom worn four combinations of lateral/medial mechanisms: lateral and medial single-axis (SA), lateral super gear (SG) and medial non-circular gear (NCG), lateral four-bar linkage (FL) and medial SG, and lateral FL and medial NCG...
March 27, 2024: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of Engineering in Medicine