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

2. 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.

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

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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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