Engineering Commons^™

Innovation Of Crutches, Austin Reth, Kyle Lumbert, Scott Romich, Audrey Shultz, Catherine Stencler

Engineering: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The following project focuses on the redesign of crutches, and more specifically, a redesign of the most common type of crutch, the axillary crutch. Every year, there are approximately 21 million Emergency Room visits for lower leg injuries, many of which would lead to short term crutch use [1]. In this project, we attempted to correct common issues associated with the use of the axillary (underarm) crutch such as pinched nerves, poor posture, and exhaustion with use. We also identified the problem of common crutches not being suited for certain body types such as the difference in body shape between …