Can air bags prevent ACL injuries? Technology test for the knee in the laboratory

Written by Bhavy Metakar, Hippos Exkeleton Incorporated

introduction

The front cruciate ligament injuries (ACL) is among the most dangerous threats for athletes. At Hippos ExiSkeleton Incorporated, we develop the first smart pillar of the adaptive knee in the world – a device that can be worn designed to reduce the possibility of these injuries. Essential in our initial model is a high -speed air pillow system that enlarges the critical movements to stabilize the knee.

To test our designs, we conducted a movement of motion capture with athletes who jump from a platform and fell on one foot. Our goal was to investigate how different airbaging formations affect Valgus angle From the knee – a major factor associated with the risk of ACL injury.

Understand Valgus angle

The knee kidnapping is an important contributor to the cause [3]. The kidnapping of Valgus (or “KNOCK-KNEE”) increases the pressure on ACL during high-influential activities such as jumping. We define Valgus angle As the angle between the thigh bone and the tube on a parallel plane has not been shaded. A top angle (closer to 180 degrees) means that the knee is more compact and under less stress (Figure 1).

Our airbag designs

We tested three special airbag formations:

• Aerobic pillow 1: It supports the darling hole (the back of the knee) only as shown in Figure 2.
• Aerobic pillow 2: Supports the darling hole and each of the base and the top of the patella, as shown in Figure 2.
• Aerobic pillow 3Cylindrical wrapping design.

Experimental preparation

We employed 17 athletes and used the internal motion capture system in the river hippos and high pressure test device (HPTA) as shown in Figure 3.

Use our internal motion capture system to see the computer and track the visual flow to track the white signs that were placed on each athlete as shown in Figure 4. Each athlete conducted the same jump in three different cases:

1. Do not wear the airbag
2. Wears every unpaid air pad
3. Wearing every inflated air pad

The main results

Raw change in the Valgus angle

The maximum negative change (i.e., “Caving in”) was measured by all configurations:

effectiveness

We define the effectiveness as a percentage of a decrease in the Valgus deviation between unnecessary and inflated situations:

• Aerobic pillow 1: 54.5 %
• Aerobic pillow 2: 68.0 %
• Aerobic pillow 3: 50.0 %

Valgus angle plans with different air bags appear under different conditions in shapes 5-10. The following results of shapes 5-10 are shown in the Valgus corner in the knee with different air pad design designs while jumping from a platform and falling on one foot. The positive Y Axis Values ​​represent a knee joint straightening, which reduces the risk of infection because the knee ligament is decreased with a knee joint interrogation [5]. The Axis of the Axis Axi is the kidnapping of the knee joint, which increases the risk of infection because while it bends the knee, it increases the knee ligament strain [6].

Comparative analysis

Some major notes:

• Aerobic pillow 2When it is amplified, the highest and most consistent event showed the knee -gouge.
• Aerobic pillow 3While an unpaid useful, it became less effective when amplifying it due to pressure restrictions.
• All enlarged air bags outperformed their non -inherent counterparts.
• Unlocked air cysts 1 and 2 are closely similar to the case of “non -pillow”, indicating that most of the protection effect comes during inflation.

conclusion

Airbag 2, which supports both the knee and the knee, showed the largest effectiveness in reducing the risky Valgus movement – 68 % on average. It also produced the most consistent results in all participants.

This test is valid for our design direction. Future repetitions will explore pressure control algorithms, sensor integration, and compact shape factors to enhance the actual time response.

The airbags of cars may not only be.

Future work

As it becomes clear from the data collected in forms 5-10, there was a different sample size (and small) for each air pad under different circumstances. For more strict verification, it will be necessary to repeat the test methodology described on a larger scale, and thus a sample size of statistical significance is taken for each air pillow design under different circumstances.

Thanks and appreciation

This study was not possible without the contributions of Tamana Shah, and our amazing sports participants: Abdullah Muhammad, Hamim al -Islam, Kyuka Kostantini, Anastasia Timoko, Agharwal, Sanvi Bajaj, Zion Darko, Pratkish Ghabbaba Xiyangi Tan, Beatriz Vicario Santos, Kristian Olsen, Lilia Michaut, Oli Sharrat, and Levine Salim.

Reference

1. Teachmesurger
2. Kinhop: Tribal hole
3. Hiite and others, Orthopedic Research Magazine2016
4. Centeno, “Can you treat a Valgus knee without surgery?” , Regenexx Blog, 2024
5. Markolf et al. , Orthopedic Research Magazine1995
6. Ireland, “ACL injury in female sports”, ” Sports Training Magazine1999