Brace yourself: Student hopes to change the prosthetics industry with knee innovation
A master’s student has successfully built a high-tech knee brace which is the first of its kind. Ian Thomson hopes his pioneering prototype will contribute to the advancement of the prosthetics industry, particularly in the African context.
The development team hopes that the project will create awareness and develop expertise for a more Africa-centred approach to innovation in this field as this will make the equipment more affordable and readily available locally.
Thomson lost his leg eleven years ago and as a prosthetics user has set his sights on making a difference in the industry. Even though the brace is only a prototype, he has started testing the technology which is built into the brace.
“Ever since I lost my leg, I knew that I wanted to make a contribution to the prosthetics industry,” Thomson said.
The student has been working closely with Dr Mark Kramer, a biomechanics and exercise physiology specialist who works as a senior lecturer at the North-West University (NWU).
With Kramer’s contributions, Thomson has built the instrumented knee brace which continuously collects data of a patient’s knee function. Unlike traditional knee braces, which aim at limiting the strain on the injured joint, this brace allows health practitioners to utilise the data collected based on the patient’s day-to-day movements.
The developers explain that the technology is built into the brace and it is situated on key points to ensure that the collected data is accurate and measurable. This will ensure that practitioners are able to monitor a patient’s range of movement throughout the day and not only when they have rehabilitation sessions.
The technology’s accuracy is currently being tested by using a motion analysis system and it has set a benchmark as it delivers sub-millimetre results. In the health and well-being industry, it is of utmost importance to deliver accurate results to ensure that health practitioners are able to make informed decisions. The results of Thomson’s brace have not disappointed thus far.
Thomson’s long-term goal is to incorporate the braces’ technology into future prosthetics to ensure that prosthetics are developed according to the user’s needs. Considering that Thomson has a prosthetic leg, he knows exactly how uncomfortable they are when it is not made with the end-user in mind. He lost his leg after a motorcycle accident and his leg had to be amputated above his knee.
The technology will not only be utilised to create user-specific prosthetics, but it could also be built into prosthetics to calculate the actions and movements the user is attempting which allows the prosthetic to adapt to the specific scenario.
Kramer said: “A challenge our industry faces is that a lot of the equipment and technology needs to be imported which makes it very expensive when considering the exchange rates. It is also a time-consuming process when we need to repair equipment as it would need to be sent back overseas.” The motion analysis system referred to earlier can cost anything from R2 million whereas the brace can cut costs exponentially.
Cor Leijenaar, the manager at the Centre for Health and Human Performance (CHHP) in the NWU’s Faculty of Health Sciences, said that technological advances such as Thomson’s ensures that industry professionals can make decisions based on concrete evidence. He said: “Having measurable and accurate data, could change our industry. It guarantees credibility as well because decisions can be based on a patient’s data rather than how they feel.”
Jean Stofberg, a biokineticist at the CHHP, said that such advances are important for the industry as rehabilitation programmes can be adjusted based on data. “Concrete evidence ensures that the patient is indeed ready to move to a more advanced programme and they tend to buy into their rehabilitation, as they can see improvements on paper.”
This would guarantee that rehabilitation is more effective as a health practitioner can make informed decisions based on the data that they have available.
Thomson and Kramer are also part of the NWU’s 2024 Cybathlon team who will compete in Switzerland. Cybathlon is a competition in which physically impaired individuals compete against each other to complete everyday tasks using technologically advanced assistance systems.
The NWU team will be participating in the leg prosthesis and wheelchair category. The technology developed will be aimed at functioning in everyday situations where the exact circumstances of a given task are not always known.
Thomson said they will need more participants to be ‘pilots’ for each category.
“If we do not have pilots [participants] for the different categories, we will not be able to compete in them. If there are people with prosthetics who would like to be part of the team, that will mean that we can participate and contribute to those divisions as well. It will benefit everyone with prosthetics as we can seek and develop solutions.” – By Ruhan Friedrichs, Ruben Jooste, Calvin van Wyk, Charissa Swanepoel
Very informative article. All of the best for the ongoing testing of the prototype.
Absolutely amazing! It’s good to see that upcoming journalists are so initiative to dig deeper and write about stories that’s really heartfelt!
This is amazing! It would definitely be an advantage for rehabilitation in the future.
Wow what an inspiring article! I whish Thompson and his team all the best in his development.
This is Amazing
What an innovative idea! Looking forward to more stories about this.
What an innovative idea!
Wow! I really applaud the Cybathlon team for their initiative in the development of this technology, It’s great seeing youth aspiring to something that could change the lives of thousands of people.
I am looking forward to feedback on the results of the upcoming competition, and further development of this technology. The team’s heart definitely seems to be in the right place!
I wish the Cybathlon team good luck on their participation in Switzerland, and I hope that they are warmly welcomed with open arms.
This is definitely what I needed to hear, i have had knee problems for as long I can remember.
Awesome innovative thinking from Ian Thomson and the rest of the team. We are fortunate to know Ian and we know how passionate he is towards this project and how much thought and hard work has gone into this. Ian, you are a champion and we see it in everything you do!! Jakes and Susan
Wow Ian, this is really exciting. Well done and may you dreams come true
A clever and innovative solution to a common problem. Engineering problem solving at it’s very best!
This is simply amazing!
Such an incredibly inspiring idea! Not only does it monitor the patient and / or participant’s movements in a controlled environment such as a cybathlon course, it also caters to collect data in an unknown environment where we cannot predict what we will do in our average day-to-day tasks. This article is well written and sets out a forward looking goal of finding solutions (which we take for granted) but for others the struggle is real having lost a limb. They could also possibly enhance this technology to incorporate arm braces for patients who suffer from severe tennis elbow or even worse, who has lost an arm. It is interesting to note that the article also prompts patients to partake in the cybathlon, thereby increasing the data collection opportunities this would bring as well as the most important component which is the issue of cost of course. Very comprehensive article!
Amazing!
What an excellent innovation !
Good article. Good luck with your journey.
This is a great an informative article. I would like a follow up after 2024.
Excellent article! Well researched and great to see another Sout African invention.
Best of luck to Thomson and team with their future endeavours.
So innovative! Good luck to the team
Absolutely well done! This technology will have such a positive impact on humanity! Taking the 5th Industrial Revolution to new exciting heights! Never give up!
Good Artical and very interesting.
Well done Ian, the only limitations in life is your own mind. Looking foward to the great things to come from this. To the upcoming journalists that covered this story, job well done. Keep up the good work
Excellent article. May your dreams come true.
Thank you for a insightful article, this is amazing what todays young people can achieved by their innovations, Ian Thompson good luck for your future and also with the Cybathlon team who is going to compete in Switzerland in 2024.
I really hope that technology becomes much cheaper in SA so that they can build more units at a much cheaper cost. All the best for the team in Switzerland.
Excellent article. Well done and all the best with the development of this new technology. Hope to see what happens in the future.
Wow, this is amazing!
Wonderlik. Baie seën vorentoe
what a great story!!
Omw it’s a very great story this meant so much to me being disabled I would advice any other disabled body to read this it meant so much to me
Wow this is amazing. Lets go Nwu