Laboratory of Orthopaedic Design & Engineering

There are many tourniquets on the market and there needs to be more ways to test if they work. This project aims at testing these tourniquets through the tension they produce around the limb. Through this connection a device can be made with the implementation of springs that simulate the stiffness of a leg. The goal is to make a sturdy device that produces consistent and reproducible results.

Using technology previously developed by the lab for the LockKnee, our team aims to design a new locking total elbow replacement to improve patient outcomes and allow them to return to activities of daily living with better mobility and function. Currently, elbows can be locked straight, at 90 degrees, or can be left free swinging, depending on the patient's muscle and ligament stability. Our locking elbow will be able to lock at additional angles to aid in tasks such as personal grooming, feeding, toileting, and carrying loads.

This project is focused on rowing biomechanics and how they are affected by a dynamic foot plate when compared to the traditional static foot plate.A Qualisys motion capture system and a series of electromyography (EMG) sensors are used to track the kinematics of the body and muscle activation during rowing on an ergometer.This study will provide an understanding of the effects of a dynamic foot plate in competition and will inform on its advantages/disadvantages to promote optimal rowing performance.

This project presents a clinical study quantifying plantar pressures in individuals with type 2 diabetes to better understand how elevated loading contributes to diabetic foot ulcer formation and healing. By analyzing pressure changes before and after debridement, the study demonstrates that ulcer sites consistently exhibit higher pressures, and that callus removal can reduce localized loading to support improved treatment outcomes.

Many baby bottles that are on the market do not have a proper venting system. This causes the baby to suck harder on the bottle, which in turn may result in gas bubbles, discomfort and colic. In our research we are working with the Dru Feeding System to design a removable Teflon vent that will minimize pressure build up and allow for consistent milk flow through different bottle nipples, while being easy to use and clean. 

 Close to 20% of all US citizens over the age of 50 suffer from leg edema, and many of these patients also suffer from chronic wounds on the impacted leg area. Compression wrapping is an established therapeutic for managing leg edema and the associated leg swelling, however little is known about the effect this compression wrapping has on wounds. Typically, in the presence of a chronic wound on leg edema, the wound is first dressed, and then a compression wrap is placed around the edema. This study serves as a quantitative analysis on the effect different wound dressings have on the pressure distribution imposed by compression wrapping over a wound bed. 

The Clemson Headgear Impact Performance (CHIP) Laboratory, located in Newman Hall within the SONOCO Transport Package Testing Laboratory, performs cutting edge research in areas related to brain mechanics, headgear design and testing, motion capture, and injury biomechanics at the intersection of bioengineering, packaging sciences, and mechanical engineering. As the senior personnel on this project and cooperative advisors for the Clemson Headgear Impact Performance (CHIP) Laboratory, Dr. John DesJardins (Bioengineering) and Dr. Gregory Batt (Packaging Sciences) have led a group of PhD, Master’s, and Undergraduate students in awarded and published research. 

Many people with diabetic foot ulcers experience discomfort from poorly designed orthotics. A key contributor to this discomfort is the pressure gradients within the orthotics meant to offload pressure on the foot ulcer. This research aims to investigate the relationship between pressure gradients and comfort by inducing various levels of pressure gradients on patients and measuring their corresponding discomfort, with the end goal of developing more effective and patient-friendly orthotics in the future.