Designing an Electromechanical Ski Binding Sensor and Release System for Prevention of ACL Injuries
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Skiing has become an incredibly popular sport, with over 200 million skiers worldwide. As the sport has matured, so has safety technology. These improvements have dropped the overall injury rate for skiers, but anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries continue to be a problem. A lack of technology addressing knee safety has caused ACL tears to dominate an increasing share of all major skiing injuries. An ACL tear causes serious issues, requiring expensive surgery and around a year of recovery. Over 55% of these tears in skiing stem from two mechanisms of injury (MOIs). One MOI involves an outward rotation of the knee while the skier falls forward; the other involves an inward rotation with the skis crossing while the skier leans backwards. The ski binding that we have designed combats these MOIs by detecting them before they can tear a skier’s ACL. Multiple sensors send data to a microcontroller, whose decision-making algorithm activates a release mechanism if a skier is at risk of tearing their ACL via one of the two identified MOIs. The sensors consist of one inertial measurement unit (IMU) and flex sensor on each leg. The IMUs measure relative angular position and relative angular speed of the skis, while the flex sensors measure knee flexion angles. If a release condition is detected, a solenoid is activated, triggering the mechanical system that releases the boot from the binding. We have identified and developed two prototypes for the mechanical release system that are paired with our higher fidelity sensor system. While testing is required to determine the exact release thresholds, our work proves the viability of a ski binding system that detects and responds to the two most common MOIs for an ACL tear before a skier suffers an ACL injury.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Publication date | April 3, 2023; 2023 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Einav, Shiley |
|---|---|
| Author | Chang, Athena |
| Author | Shrestha, Amado |
| Advisor | Shea, Kevin |
| Advisor | Maxell, Cole |
| Advisor | Van Dalsem, William |
| Advisor | Taylor, Vanessa |
| Sponsor | Stanford Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery |
Subjects
| Subject | Mechanical engineering |
|---|---|
| Subject | Skiing accidents |
| Subject | Knee > Wounds and injuries > Prevention |
| Genre | Text |
| Genre | Report |
Bibliographic information
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- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred citation
- Einav, S., Chang, A., and Shrestha, A. (2023). Designing an Electromechanical Ski Binding Sensor and Release System for Prevention of ACL Injuries. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/qg301mv2712. https://doi.org/10.25740/qg301mv2712.
Collection
ME170 Mechanical Engineering Design
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