The Knee Nook
By Black, Carissa; Liu, Derek; Petrash, Henry; Warga, Greg; Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 146-150Publication Date: March-April 2008
Paper describes the development and user testing of the Knee Nook to aid persons with stroke wearing an ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) in putting a shoe on the paretic foot. Stroke survivors may wear an AFO to prevent their weak foot from dragging and hindering ambulation, but because of the added bulk of the AFO, donning a shoe becomes difficult. A design team of students in an Engineering Design and Communication course at Northwestern University interviewed and observed stroke patients at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago during the process of putting on the AFO and shoe, and used their feedback to develop a prototype device that kept the paretic foot in place on top of the nonparetic knee to facilitate donning a shoe. The Knee Nook consists of a stuffed neoprene foam pad, which provides the friction necessary to hold the leg in place, and a leg strap made of 1-inch webbing which tightens with the same technology used in backpacks. While seated, users slide the device over their strong leg into position above the knee, strapping the device using the tightening mechanism. This research was supported by a U.S. Department of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research grant.
Published by: Thomas Land Publishers, Inc. (Website:http://www.thomasland.com)
National Stroke Association (Web Site: http://www.stroke.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number J54331
