Cover image obtained from: https://www.dreamstime.com/seamless-dog-bone-wallpaper-background-pattern-vector-illustration-treats-cartoon-backdrop-image156454752

🛠 Technical Skills

• Autodesk Inventor
• Prusa Slicer
• 3-D Printing
• Python
• Microsoft Excel
• Canva

🗣️ Power Skills

• Leadership and Project Management
• Organization and Time Management
• Oral and Written Communication
• Collaboration
• Presentation Delivery and Public Speaking

📝 Project Overview

For my second Design Project, my team was tasked with creating a hip implant for our patient who was suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. She was experiencing excessive bone-on-bone contact between her pelvis and femur which caused abnormal bone formation. Moreover, she had a metal allergy, which was a significant factor to consider when determining the materials for this implant.

👤 Patient Profile

Demographic Sex: Female Age: 49 years Weight 59 kg Height: 169 cm

Symptoms

• Stiffness in the thigh and groin area
• Loss of appetite
• Extreme discomfort when sitting down
• Bone erosion has reduced joint space
• Nodules on feet

Allergies

• Metals such as, but not limited to:
  • Zinc
  • Copper
  • Silver
  • Iron

Testing Summary

• High erythrocyte sedimentation rate
• Extremely high white blood cell count
• High anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody density

Medication(s)

• 20 mg of Prednisone a day [ineffective]
• 5 mg/kg of Remicade, administered intravenously every 8 weeks

Final Diagnosis: Rheumatoid Arthritis

Front view x-ray of the patient. It displays a lighter region around the right pelvis-femur joint indicating the abnormal bone formation as a result of exorbitant bone-on-bone contact.

🎯 Objectives

• Should emulate the malleable nature of cartilage within the pelvis-femur joint capsule
• Should relieve the pressure on the soles of the patient’s feet
• Should enable patient autonomy by eliminating pain
• Should facilitate a wide range of leg motion with minimal resistance

⚠️ Constraints

• Must be substantially load-bearing
• Must not be made of metal due to the patient’s metal allergy
• Must not induce an autoimmune response
• Must be lightweight to avoid imbalance in the joint

⚙️ Design Process

• Early Concepts and Idea Generation
• Our Final Solution
• Team Meetings and Project Planning
• My Contributions

💭 Project Reflection

Since I was on the Modeling Subteam for this project, my main takeaways pertain to the 3-D modeling and printing process. I realized that 3-D printing is a time and material-intensive process, so it is vital to use them as effectively as possible. After spending some time in Prusa Slicer, I realized that different orientations and scales could drastically affect how long a print would take. I tested which orientation would result in the least amount of time and scaffolding being added and found that the optimal configuration for the stem was with the outfacing portion touching the printing bed and the ball pointing up. When it came to the brace, however, I realized that sometimes it is worth sacrificing some time if it results in an easier time removing the scaffolding. So, for the brace, the smaller circle was placed on the bed which moved all of the supports to the outside of the brace, thereby making them easier to remove than if they were on the inside.

Going forward, while I am eager to expand my knowledge of solid modeling and 3-D printing, I also yearn to apply my Python skills to a greater extent and experience the ways in which I could use programming to enhance the functionality of a project.