Original Work Report

This week in ISM, I had another mentor visit, researched the Exo Prosthetic Leg for my Evidence of Learning, and finished most of my Original Work Report. During my mentor visit, my mentor and I tested out several ideas for Final Product, because prosthetics is such a huge field that encompasses so many other topics within it. As a result, I still haven't been able to pinpoint a specific idea that I can then incorporate into a product that's both interesting and informative. I also learned about another form of suspension that's essentially a variation of the shuttle lock system. It's called a lanyard, and it adheres the socket to the leg through a series of velcro straps. It offers a slightly tighter fit and also minimizes any rotation of the limb within the socket a little more than a regular shuttle lock can. Furthermore, because the cost of prosthetics is one of the biggest detriments to their effectiveness, I researched how 3D printing these devices reduces cost and the time it takes to create each prosthesis. With a machine making each device, the potential for human error significantly decreases as well, so I believe 3D printing could play a major role in this field in the future. I also completed most of my Original Work Report this week, and even though I wasn't able to draw any revolutionary conclusions, I still gathered some great data and was able to reaffirm the hypothesis I created before my statistical analysis. As a whole, I'm proud of how the report turned out, and I'll wrap it up this upcoming week and do some final revisions and edits before turning it in.