Size-adjustable Pediatric Arm Splints for Elbow Fractures
Washington University in St. Louis BME401 Senior Design
Welcome to the home page for BME401 Senior Design Group 16! Current seniors Yoon Kim, Kaitlin Donlon and a Junior Kearsten Miller studying Biomedical Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis aim to create a size-adjustable pediatric arm splint for elbow patients that is quickly and easily applicable to patients of ages ranging from 18 months to 13 years old.
Our Project
The project was initially proposed by our client Dr. Linda Wu, a clinical instructor of pediatrics at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in an effort to develop a pre-formed pediatric arm splint that is capable of size-adjustment to eliminate the need for the current ER staffs to make splints for patients on an individual basis and therefore reduce the application time.
Figure 1. An arm splint applied to a patient with an elbow fracture
The Website
This website features an overview of the project and a collection of intermittent reports completed by the group members over the course of August 2022 – April 2023 that outlines the progress of the project.
Current Project Status
The students are aiming to present the complete prototype that meets all design specifications to the client at the end of April. An initial prototype has been developed in February 2023 based on the first CAD model of the splint for the purpose of testing if the size-adjusting mechanism and the choice of materials for the splint function as intended. Students will utilize the results from the proof-of-concept testing conducted with this initial prototype to make modifications as needed to develop the final prototype. The ultimate goal is to submit a fully working prototype to the 2023 NIH DEBUT CHALLENGE at the end of April.