Preliminary Design

After doing hours of user discovery and discussing with doctors, orthopedic professionals, and subjects, we learned about the bone healing process, cast requirements, and common complaints of traditional fiberglass & plaster casts. Off of these discussions, we laid out criteria that our new cast design must accomplish in order to be a successful. The ModCast design must be: adjustable (upon doctor’s approval), comfortable, waterproof, and protective. With this known, we went through an ideation process to develop solutions to our cast criteria. After multiple decision matrices for the tightening mechanism and lateral structure, the hard hat SAM splint combination was chosen. As seen in the image above, our preliminary design consists of a series of hard hat tightening mechanisms with a lateral SAM splint structure. This system provides the necessary rigidity and protectiveness of a cast while also giving the user comfort and adjustability. The only shortcoming of this design is the waterproof nature of the SAM splint material. We plan on looking into formulating our own “SAM Splint” so that the materials covering the aluminum core are porous and waterproof in nature. In the coming weeks, we will be investigating our testing procedures, ordering materials, and finalizing our 3D CAD model of ModCast.

The Beginnings

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Earlier in the Spring semester of 2019, Zach broke his fifth metacarpal playing on his club lacrosse team. He went through the traditional process of getting fitted for a cast by his local orthopedic doctor, and was stuck in the cast for 8 weeks! During these weeks, he stayed active – going to the gym and working out just about everything except his broken bone. Time and time again, the cast became an irritant, had a terrible odor, and was overall uncomfortable. After initial swelling went down, the cast became so loose, that at times, it felt like it was going to slide off. Noticing Zach’s discomfort, we went forward to our advisor, Dr. Paliwal, and proposed to him the concept of ModCast: a breathable, lightweight, waterproof, comfortable, and cost effective cast design for our Senior Project. After hearing the concept and thought behind our idea, Dr. Paliwal was soon on-board with the project and approved us as a team for our Senior year!