Engineering Design: Course

RALPH: Reuma Artrithis Lifting and Powered Help

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammation disease leading to loss of joint flexibility. People with RA can benefit from strength training like weight lifting, because it keeps the muscles around the joints flexible and strong. However, if there is an inflammation in the fingers, they cannot bend fully around the dumbbell and keeping it bend, which makes it hard to start weight lifting. Therefore, people with RA would be helped by an aid that supports the fingers as they pick up a dumbbell. A study by Jiang also shows that the level of concentration on exercise is very impactful to the results. If the user is concentrated on the exercise, good results can be achieved, even if the exercise is very light. The aid will therefore also help the user stay focused on the exercise by inducing a sound . Part of the motivation for this aid and disability lies in the fact that one group member has a girlfriend with RA. If the aid could help her to exercise, she suffers from her disease a little less.