DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUS PASSIVE MOTION DEVICE FOR POST SURGICAL REHABILITATION OF THE KNEE

摘要

The main purpose of this paper is to find a solution for speeding up the recovery of the approximate 500,000 people (only in Europe) who suffer some sort surgical procedure on the knee joint. This solution is embodied in a continuous passive motion device that is used post operational. This device consists of a leg support that forces the knee to bend gradually for a designated period of time while the muscles are electrically stimulated in order to accelerate the recovery time. The needs of the target market served as a key factor in the user oriented development of the mentioned rehabilitation apparatus. The existing devices have various drawbacks that make them less popular than it should. These drawbacks have been identified and guided the design of the apparatus towards eliminating them.