Mission Statement
Our mission is to create an effective, time-saving, and intuitive adjustable therapy band that has a comfortable connector. Additionally, it should be easily produced, small, quick to adjust, and able to be used on other therapy bands. An additional benefit would be to design a way to measure tension/force on the band.
The Problem
When using a therapy band in physical therapy, some exercises require the therapy band to be in a loop. In order to convert the band into a loop, the ends are tied together with a knot. However, the knot can be uncomfortable against a user’s skin and, most importantly, is very difficult to undo. This wastes valuable time during physical therapy sessions and can eventually wear down the therapy band.
Requirements for the project
- Quick to adjust or take apart
- Light and doesn’t add excess weight to the band
- User-friendly and intuitive
- Comfortable: not pulling on hairs or digging into the skin
- Easy to adjust mid-exercise
- Measuring resistance in the band
- Able to work at various orientations
- Inexpensive to produce commercially
- Safe and able to withstand the tension more than 20 lbs
- Better than the alternative: tying a knot
Our Project Partners
Dr. Bennett Goldberg: Routinely goes to physical therapy. He is representative of an average physical therapy patient for our project, and therefore, the average user.
Dr. Melody Tran: A physical therapist who runs a practice, Athletico. She will use our device in order to treat her patients.
Users
Since therapy bands are so widely-used among physical therapy practices, there will be many users in addition to our project partners. Any physical therapy patient, regardless of their age, type of injury and other demographics can benefit from our device. This also makes our device ideal to be used in physical therapy practices.
Loop-It: The Ultimate Solution for a Knot
How it works
Loop-It is a set of two O-Rings that the therapy band is threaded through. The O-Rings keep the band together while the band is stretched, or under tension, because the band is forced to slide against itself in order to escape the rings. This force is enough to keep Loop-It securely fastened to the band. Therefore, Loop-It is a safe and reliable solution to the problem.
