Target Customer




Problems with plantar/dorsi flexion
Able to respond
Well into recovery (at least 6 months)
Currently able to walk unassisted with AFO
Important thoughts to take away from the interviews
Our interviews thus far have been conducted on ten patients. All patients had negative or
indifferent comments about their AFO fitting inside of a shoe, and all but one complained that they were
unable to get their AFO on unassisted. In respect to the inability to get the AFO on unassisted it should
be noted that most of the patients are older and exhibit high dependency on others for other task as
well. Another key fact to take away from the interviews was the expected life cycle/durability that
seems to be expected from the patients, most patients seek an AFO with a lifetime of up to 6 years. The
surface that contacts the patient’s leg also seems to be in need of review, as most patients have to wear
extra high socks, to avoid contact with the plastic AFO. Some of their complaints were stickiness,
excessive sweating, and development of sores.
One of the most important things to take away from the interviews is that most of the patients
asked their doctors to reduce the amount of material in the AFO, most patients attributed this to
wanting more flexibility, something beyond what just adding a hinge could do. Upon every attempt by
the patient to have their doctor remove more material, the doctor disagreed with the patient’s
requests. This means that we are missing a key bit of information still. We need to talk to someone
about why they are hesitant to remove material from the brace. Is it purely to keep it from breaking? Or
is it that the patient needs more resistance than they think?
Customer Needs List
Functionality
 Lifts foot up at appropriate time
o Sit to stand
o Stairs
o Inclined surface
o Level surface
Constraints
 Fits into a shoe
 Ease of access
 Adjustability
 Light Weight
 Portable
 Inexpensive
 Able to be used on both sides of the body
Safety
 Durability/fatigue life
 Biocompatible surface
 Able to be cleaned/sterilized
Design Metric
Functionality
Metric
Units
Sit to Stand
75 to 45
deg
Detects and Allows for
adequate motion of the ankle
while attempting to stand from
a seated position
Detects and Allows for freedom
of the ankle so the patient
could walk with successive foot
motion up and down a flight of
stairs
Detects and Allows for freedom
of the ankle so the patient
could walk with successive foot
motion up and down a flight of
stairs
Detects and Allows for motion
of the foot during decent or
assent of a ramp
Detects and Allows for motion
of the foot during decent or
assent of a ramp
Patient does not drag there
foot on the ground.
Units
Test
70 to 85
deg
Stairs Accent
82 to 58
deg
Stairs Decent
82 to 45
deg
Inclined surface accent
Inclined surface decent
Level Surface
Test
82 to 46
deg
60 to 80
deg
Importance
(1-4)
Ref
4
A Motion Control of
a Robotic Walker for
Continuous
Assistance
during Standing,
Walking and Seating
Operation
3
3
Fits into a shoe
Binary
Ease of access
10 Min
Adjustability
Light weight
Portable
Inexpensive
Able to be used on both
sides of the body
cm
<1 kg
10hr
<1000$
Binary
Attempt to fit into a shoe
possibly using a floppy (find a
better word) foot
Attempt to put on with one
hand, time results document
relative range of motion
necessary to complete task
What rand of body types can
this AFO fit?
Use hard plastic AFO as
benchmark for weight
Operation length
BOM
Can it be used on both sides of
the body?
Ankle-Foot-Orthosis
Control in
Inclinations and
Stairs
2
Ankle-Foot-Orthosis
Control in
Inclinations and
Stairs
2
Ankle-Foot-Orthosis
Control in
Inclinations and
Stairs
1
Constrains
Metric
Ankle-Foot-Orthosis
Control in
Inclinations and
Stairs
Importance
(1-7)
2
3
5
4
1
6
7
Safety
Metric
Units
Durability/ Fatigue Life
Cycles
Biocompatible surface
Able to be Cleaned/Sterilized
Binary
Binary
Test
Fatigue test the AFO (or at least
identify weakest component
and test that)
Documentation of material
must support claim
Documentation of material
must support claim
Importance
(1-3)
3
2
1