MIAD Industrial Design Project - Carpal Tunnel Brace
Inspiration and Background
I was inspired to design this new brace because of my personal struggle with carpal tunnel, and all the people I know who have it. I, a junior in high school, do a lot with my hand and wrist, writing notes, making my art projects, stage crew, etc. My mom who works in a produce department, uses her hands all day doing various things. We all have a lot of stuff to do throughout the day, and mist of it is with our hands, so for people who have carpal tunnel, or wrist problems in general, there has to be something better that can help relieve the pain, while still being able to get our stuff done. I wanted to work on a brace specifically for carpal tunnel because there aren't many good braces that specifically aim to relieve the wrist and hand pain.
Process and Sketches
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The pictures to the left are the first stage of the project, the empathy map and initial sketch. In the empathy map I used the information I gathered from meeting with the people who have carpal tunnel, and what I know from it. It's broken up into four sections, Observations, Thoughts, Listening, and Feelings. While I did change my wording for my answers my initial ones were;
- Observations: Constant massaging, shaking all the time. - Thoughts: If this were made... it would help a lot of people. - Listening: Always painful, restricts productivity. - Feelings: I feel... like this is much needed, and I al excited to make this. As you can see I needed to reword this, which I did as you will see later. My sketch for this part were very rough as well. I highlighted the pain areas and the pressure points are for relieving pain. |
This is my mind map, we made these to help sort our ideas and what we really needed and wanted in our products. This was the second phase in the process. Making the map was very helpful, making me narrow and focus my thoughts. I originally wanted to try and make a brace that would completely get rid of carpal tunnel pain. But doing this is helped me realize that I can only relieve it a bit, there already is a fix for carpal tunnel, surgery. Which if anyone else is like me, they would want to put any sort of surgery off as long as possible. So having a brace that will be comfortable, subtle, and take most of the pain away and doesn't restrict the wearer is ideal.
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My sketches show my initial and general ideas I had for this project. In the first sketch I noted the features and details I would want in the actual product. I also highlighted the pain areas and pressure points that help to relieve pain. In my second sketch I went with less detail to show how I wanted the material to be and other pressure and pain points.
In the second sket the the blue represents a thinner area to keep hands from getting sweaty, the red are pain points, and the pink lines are areas that may need a bit more support. |
This semester I began working on the physical model of my brace. Since I sew I always have extra fabric on hand, so I looked through my stash of material and found a couple colors that I could use. I ultimately went with an off white for the model since I figured it would be best for drafting and working with the design of the brace.
I started again with the design you see on the left, but while I was making the model I changed some elements of it. I decided I wanted to have 2 flexible plates on the back of the hand and on the inner part of the wrist. I didn't want the entire brace to be made out of the stiff plate, if it was the wearer would have very limited mobility. I also wanted the sides to be just the poly cotton material so that the wearer could flex their wrists side to side. I wanted the plate on the back of the hand to come to a rounded point at the middle finger to add support and so there was no need for a full glove. The stiffer material would allow for the hand and palm to be free while supporting the wrist. The stiffened material at the inner wrist is to add the same support without being too bulky. The square, with rounded edges to prevent any discomfort, works with the plate on the back of the hand to keep the wrist straight and relive some pressure. For materials I used to construct my model, I just used left over polycotton and 5 note cards glued together, so the plate would be flexible yet sturdy. The cream polycotton I always have lying around so I just cut out what I needed from my stash. And the note cards were just some that I had around. With the post cards, I took what would be the top one and layed it over my brace and sketched the shape I needed, this is where I altered from my second planning sketch. I decided to just flatten the top, I though this would work better in the long run. With the shape sketched I proceeded with gluing the 5 cards together and then cutting the shape out. After that was cut and glued, I bent the cards in half then cut each long side to provide more mobility. I slipped the plate into pockets I made with the fabric and sewed them in. To close the brace I wanted it to wrap around and be adjustable, to fit more wearer and always be comfortable. For this I want to use Velcro on the entire back of hand and a thick strip at the end where it extends out. This seemed to be the best solution, since anything else would only fit one size. The only issue was that I didn't have any around and couldn't find the correct Velcro that I wanted, surprisingly there's a lot to choose from. So I just made a band that I would safety pin shut for now. I then sewed that band to the opening in the wrist I left to make it easier to put on, and then I was done. |
(Click on the images above to read their captions and view them.)
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Reflection
I think my product will really help user with carpal tunnel. Most braces are just general cheap ineffective braces, and you could spend the money to buy a very fancy one, but if I can make or design something for little cost and be very effective, that would be great. My brace is focused on relieving carpal tunnel pain, it's not a general brace, it wouldn't have any metal in it and it would hopefully be discreet for the wearer. The material wouldn't let your palms get sweaty like the normal braces do. The wearer would have all mobility, unlike some braces that just stiffen the wrist, which could possibly cause more pain. My brace would hopefully clear all the worries of anyone who has carpal tunnel, and can't or doesn't want to get surgery.
Compare
- My work will obviously be very similar to current braces that are being sold, since they all aim to do the same thing, stiffen the wrist to decrease pain. My brace focused most of its job on the wrist, which is very similar to what the brace I'm comparing it to. The other brace is like a glove and has a velcro wrap that goes around the wrist to add pressure and support. My brace also wraps around the wrist to help stiffen.
Contrast
- My work is different from the braces I'm comparing it to since my brace doesn't cover the whole hand like a glove. it leaves the palm and fingers free for comfort. My brace also has smaller and more flexible stiffening plates which allows the wearer to be able to do more while protecting and treating their wrist.
Compare
- My work will obviously be very similar to current braces that are being sold, since they all aim to do the same thing, stiffen the wrist to decrease pain. My brace focused most of its job on the wrist, which is very similar to what the brace I'm comparing it to. The other brace is like a glove and has a velcro wrap that goes around the wrist to add pressure and support. My brace also wraps around the wrist to help stiffen.
Contrast
- My work is different from the braces I'm comparing it to since my brace doesn't cover the whole hand like a glove. it leaves the palm and fingers free for comfort. My brace also has smaller and more flexible stiffening plates which allows the wearer to be able to do more while protecting and treating their wrist.
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
I explain the differences and how my brace solves the cons or the normal braces. I explain how I would fix those problems and why it benefits the wearer.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Any research I did was asking people who have carpal tunnel and figuring out what is needed in the brace.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People who have any sort of reason to wear a brace, especially long term, know the annoyance of them, the questions and the bother of wearing it.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Any research I did was informational, it was all question others, and material or medical information.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had to think about what would be better in the brace and what I had to leave out, things that would inhibit mobility and anything that would draw attention I kept out of the design.
I explain the differences and how my brace solves the cons or the normal braces. I explain how I would fix those problems and why it benefits the wearer.
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Any research I did was asking people who have carpal tunnel and figuring out what is needed in the brace.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
People who have any sort of reason to wear a brace, especially long term, know the annoyance of them, the questions and the bother of wearing it.
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Any research I did was informational, it was all question others, and material or medical information.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had to think about what would be better in the brace and what I had to leave out, things that would inhibit mobility and anything that would draw attention I kept out of the design.