Assistive Foot Care Device
By Capone, Avery; Noonan, Shaun; Siang, Connie; Caves, Kevin; Goldberg, Richard; NSF 2005 Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons With Disabilities, pp. 74-75Publication Date: 2005
Description of an assistive toenail-clipping device for a middle-aged woman with cerebral palsy. Developed at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, the device is modeled after commercial reaching devices, which provide a grasping mechanism at the end of a rod, controlled by a trigger grip. Its 5 main components are the trigger/handle from a Featherlight reacher whose plastic trigger lever was replaced with a custom aluminum lever, the chassis constructed from aluminum u-bar, the force transmission system enclosed in the chassis with heat-shrink wrap, a vision enhancement mechanism of a small magnifying sheet mounted to the chassis, and the trimmer, large commercial clippers with a hole drilled in them, mounted to the chassis with an L-bracket. The force transmission system uses high-strength kite string attached to a hole in the trigger at one end and run down the chassis through a retaining eyebolt to the hole in the clipper lever at the other end. The device allows the client to trim her toenails while seated in her wheelchair, significantly reducing the time and energy needed for the task. Cost of parts was approximately $100.
Published by: Creative Learning Press, Inc. (Website:http://www.creativelearningpress.com)
ISBN: 1-931280-03-7
