Simulator for Fixing a Fractured Wrist

Design & Prototyping

Masters Capstone Project: How can medical trainees and Emergency Room doctors improve their ability to properly set a broken wrist without practicing on real people? Our group of engineers and medical students collaborated closely with two Orthopedic Surgeon advisors at UC San Diego to document, design, prototype, and test a functional prototype. Our device uses electronics and elastic materials to simulate real traction forces during the challenging maneuver of a closed reduction of a distal radius fracture. This device is intended for more effective, objective, and reliable training of surgical trainees.

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Structure: The design is built onto a SawBones model of a Colles fracture, or a laterally displaced planar distal radius fracture. An internal laser alignment system was designed, built, programmed, and tested to ensure accurate bone fragment reduction. Frequent check-ins with clinical advisors ensured product validation. The team developed several prototypes including a looks-like, feels-like, and works-like model.