1. P17082 Biomechanics Elbow Model
Project Summary
The objective of this project was to design and build an elbow model for use by Biomedical Engineering students in their lab setting that can be used to understand the function and biomechanics of the arm. The final product is required to replicate the 3 positions of the wrist: pronation, supination, and resting neutral. The force gauges and angle sensor allow the students to compare the model to EMG data taken from their own muscles and to understand how different wrist positions affect the work done by the three main muscles of the elbow, the bicep, brachialis, and brachioradialis. The bones were printed out of the RIT and the sensors and truss structure used was made of PASCO components. Consultation on anatomy was done through the RIT Athletics Trainers.
Maria Romero-Creel (BME)
Shannon Keenan (BME)
Amanda Cook
(ME)
Chris Harley (ME)
Preliminary Design
System Architecture
The current model used by students only uses one muscle and force gauge to act as the bicep, and the wrist was made of one beam. The human lower arm has two bones that roll over each other to allow for rotation at the wrist. This project looked to improve the previous model by adding 2 more muscles and a functional wrist to be able to produce more anatomically accurate data.
Final Design and Build
Design Plan Drawing
CAD Model of Bones
Assembled Model
The bones were designed SolidWorks and printed on a Gigabot printer through the After trial and error it was decided to print the final bones at a 40% fill density of Polylactic Acid (PLA). Each bone took about 3 hours to print.
Results