Heel Cord Lengthening Assist Device Presenters: Sarah Holloway Satyen Saraswat Advisor: Dr. Edward Glaser

Objective The goal of this project is to design, build, and implement a device that can be used as a noninvasive technique to correct tightened heel cords in youths.

Background Cerebral Palsy Cerebral Diplegia Spastic Athetoid Ataxic Cerebral Diplegia Spina Bifida (Myelomeningocele)

Current Methods of Correction Surgical Z-plasty White Slide Method Serial Casting Physical Therapy

Current Problems 64,000 z-plasty surgeries were done in 19981 16,640 of these surgeries were recurrents Literature recommends that the procedure not to be done for age <7 Age <5, 48% recurrence Benefits of serial casts are lost within 6 months Muscle loss due to cast

Our Plan Noninvasive brace to stretch the heel cord that can obey the following design wishes: Painless Lightweight Non-restrictive to movement Adjustable for foot/ankle size and degree of dorsiflexion

Work Completed Contacted pediatricians, pediatric physical therapists, a podiatrist, and an orthopaedic surgeon Researched surgical and serial casting methods for design improvements and function Determined ranges of foot/ankle sizes for our design Preliminary brainstorming of different designs

Future Work Confirm our findings of required flexion angles needed to lengthen the tendon Design various devices to brace the heel cord and allow for variable dorsiflexion angles Comparison of our designs Material analysis