BME100 s2017:Group1 W1030AM L1

BME 100 Spring 2017	Home People Lab Write-Up 1 | Lab Write-Up 2 | Lab Write-Up 3 Lab Write-Up 4 | Lab Write-Up 5 | Lab Write-Up 6 Course Logistics For Instructors Photos Wiki Editing Help
Sole Searchers Symone Griffith Amber Nicole Mani Haylee Holland William Sweeten Jazmine John Tarun Suresh LAB 1 WRITE-UP Health Care Issue: Joint Impact The healthcare issue that our team is developing a solution for is chronic knee pain and other pain problems related to bad or failing knees. In the United States 600,000 people annually have knee replacements and 47% of adults suffer from chronic knee pain. [1] [2] The way our technology will help these treat these chronic pain sufferers is by utilizing a removable spring heel with adjustable straps to fit any shoe. The device will attach to heel of most shoes (excluding some sandals or other minimalist type shoes) for impact reduction and stabilization. By reducing the impact on the knees those that suffer from knee pain or who are awaiting a knee replacement can fell a reduced pain because the device disperses the impact rather than it just being transferred to a persons knees and hips. The design fits securely onto the heel of most shoes. The elastic straps that hold the back of the heel and the top of the shoe sections will be available in many colors and be made very thin as to not distract from the regular shoe. The leather (or other spring covering fabric/material) will also be made available in many color options so that there is no bulky or noticeable differences between the shoe and the device. Customer Validation A few specific medical clients are Gentiva (in home care and physical therapy), Banner Desert physical therapy team, and TOCA (orthopedic and rehabilitative clinic). Some general places where customers may be additionally interested in the product design are orthopedic doctors, hospitals, military, physical therapy, designing firms, engineers, athletic trainers, and coaches. 1. Chris Komaritsky, a chiropractor, who frequently has patients with knee and hip pain. 2. Cara Holland, a mechanical/electrical engineer, who sees the potential design probable and doable. 3. Harry Meshek, a mechanical engineer, who approves of the basic design and model 4. Chad Meshek, a graphic designer and marketer, who could see the potential cosmetic design of the product being appealing. 5. Tony Holland, an athletic trainer and basketball coach, who has lost many players to knee and hip injuries. He would love to see this device on a basketball shoe for his players. 6. Kaitlyn Conley, ASU dance team coach, who would love to have this product for her dancers during athletic games to preserve their knees, since they are standing for a majority of the games. Some individuals, (independent customers) that we spoke with that are interested in the product are: People who suffer from joint damage, replacements, arthritis, or any pain that can be treated with our device: 7. Linda Pollard, who is scheduled for a knee replacement in February of 2017. 8. Dotti Gutzwiller, who had a dual knee replacement in recent years. 9. Jenny Dickason, who had knee and hip replacement about 5 years ago. 10. Robin Dickason, who has a family history of arthritis and currently suffers from knee pain. 11. Darlene Taylor, who has suffered with chronic knee pain and has a family history of joint arthritis. 12. Hamdi Mani, who works long hours on his feet and suffers from general joint discomfort on a daily basis. 13. George Sweeten, who was a high school football player who damaged his knees and has discomfort walking and standing up. 14. Peggy Collins, who has back pain from walking. 15. Suresh Ganapathiraman, who has lost muscles in leg due to unique atrophy disease. 16. Jessica Smith, who suffers from knee pain. 17. Fred Grey, who suffers from arthritis. 18. Durga Lakshmi, who experiences Rheumatoid Arthritis. 19. Bailey Harrison, a dancer who experience chronic knee pain, specifically when hip hop dancing. 20. Katie Smith, a ballet teacher, who can no longer demonstrate simple techniques to her class because of her left knee replacement back in 2013. These potential customers support the below citations. This website states that more than 600,000 knee replacements occurs a year! [3] This source concludes that almost half of adults experience chronic knee pain. [4] This source presents a bar graph of adults reporting joint pain and stiffness, and of the joints, the knee is one of the highest among them. [5] Competitors The two charts below detail out the main current competitors on the market today, the advantages and disadvantages of each and areas of opportunity for their products. The main difference between our Sole Searching product and the competitors is the price point and the fact that our technology is transferable to almost any shoe so you are not limited to wearing one very expensive pair of shoes but can rather adapt the technology to (most) shoes. Z-coil shoes Arthritis shoes from Gravity Defyer Kuru shoes Ortho feet IP Position and citations for all sections with referenced material Works Cited 1) Shoe with Spring-Like sole By Daniel T. Barry publication date July 5, 1994 In the interior of the shoe there are spring like characteristics which help the shoe to be flexible and to move along with the foot, along with a flexible outer sole to help keep the shoe stable around the foot. Barry, Daniel T., and University Of Michigan (The). "Patent CA1330485C - Shoe with Spring-like Sole Member." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <https://www.google.com/patents/CA1330485C?cl=en&dq=spring%2Bsoled%2Bshoes&hl=en&sa=X&sqi=2&pjf=1&ved=0ahUKEwjk86eb7d3RAhXCslQKHSPTB_wQ6AEIKDAC>. 2) Orthopedic Wedge By Abrams Leo M. Publication date April 19, 1960 This is a wedge that attaches to the outersole of the shoe to help with heel support. M, Abrams Leo. "Patent US2932912 - Orthopedic Wedge." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <https://www.google.com/patents/US2932912?dq=orthopedic%2Bshoe%2Bouter%2Bwedges&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio7YuO7t3RAhXCslQKHSPTB_wQ6AEIGjAA>. 3) KURU Footwear Made by a team from KURU Footwear in 2009 This shoe cups the heel of the shoe to match your actual heel as you walk to reduce strain that you put on your heel as you walk. "Shock Absorber Shoes." World's Best Shock Absorbing Shoes--kuru Footwear | KURU Footwear. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <http://www.kurufootwear.com/experts-corner/shock-absorber-shoes.html>. 4) Z-Coil shoes By Al Gallegos patented in 1995 This shoe is designed to reduce the pain you have while walking by reducing the impact on you as you walk by using the spring in the heel to push back against the pressure you add as you walk. "Shop Z-CoiL." Z-CoiL. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2017. <http://www.zcoil.com/shop/?gclid=Cj0KEQiAtqHEBRCNrdC6rYq9_oYBEiQAejvRl753hvd8vuT7g3trdj4cFqMVxwuW1kkXZ7werkUQeBcaAhXE8P8HAQ>. Fundability Worksheet Scores Competitors - 2 - There are well established competitors such as the z-coil, however there is great room for design improvement as shown by the IP section of the report, which reveals that most patents in the field are modifications to design. Customer Validation - 3 - Given that 47% of Americans experience knee pain as well as the diverse list of customers put together by members of this group, it is easy to prove product demand. IP Position - 2 - Plenty of patents exist in the field, however given the differences between them tend to be design minutia. This is a double-edged sword as it either means that patents are well enforced but prosecuting over such patents may prove difficult, weakening the patent.