KNW-Knees No Worry
KNW（knees no worry） can help people with the rehabilitation of ACL injuries. Patients can not recover very well for two reasons. Physically, they can not move the knee joint within normal range without the help of others. Psychologically, the rehabilitation exercise is extremely boring.
Considering physical and psychological reasons, patients need tools that can help their rehabilitation at home. This tool should be able to assist patients’ injured legs, visualize their achievement and make the exercises more entertaining. This is KNW’s aim.
We combine soft robots and VR games to help patients doing exercise at home, and make the process more engaging and less painful. Users can use their leg to control a tiny leg and go through a series of scenes in VR with a soft robot which can help them achieve the quantity and quality of daily rehabilitation exercises.
The Problem
The Anterior cruciate Ligament is one of the strong bands of tissue that help connect the thigh bone to the shinbone. At least 2 million people tear it every year and the number is still increasing.
The ACL reconstruction surgery may have two negative results: physically and psychologically. Nearly 80% of patients can not stick to their in-home rehabilitation plan because exercises they are asked to do at home are incredibly boring and suffering.
The ACL reconstruction surgery may have two negative results: physically and psychologically. Nearly 80% of patients can not stick to their in-home rehabilitation plan because exercises they are asked to do at home are incredibly boring and suffering.
The Solution
We use a soft robot as an artificial muscle to help patients achieve the quantity and quality of their rehabilitation exercise.
The soft robot mimics the trunk of an elephant which provides a better fit on the leg than previous medical air cushions.
The soft robot mimics the trunk of an elephant which provides a better fit on the leg than previous medical air cushions.
We compared VR, PC and mobile game and chose VR game for following reasons:
1.It can be used in different gesture, so it is an ideal interaction platform for rehabilitation
2.Accroding to literature reviews, VR experience can help user relief from pain
3.It is a trend to use VR in the rehabilitation process, and it is our opportunity to test it before the spread of VR devices.
2.Accroding to literature reviews, VR experience can help user relief from pain
3.It is a trend to use VR in the rehabilitation process, and it is our opportunity to test it before the spread of VR devices.
The Award
iF Design Talent Award 2022 – Shortlist of 300
The Credits
Jiawei Wu
Xuechun Ni
Yi Dong
Innovation Design Engineering
Imperial College London
Royal College of Art
