We received valuable feedback from other ME 498 instructors and students about our alpha prototype designs. We received feedback that could pertain to both the Dune and Oasis prototypes as well as feedback specific to each.
Generalized feedback pertaining to either prototype:
- We should take into consideration whether some of the components of our alpha prototypes, since they were 3D printed and have unique geometries, would be feasibly able to machined out of metal, since that is our ultimate goal in the beta prototype.
- We should start to consider costs of materials and other resources for our prototypes, since this could determine whether it is feasible to move forward with both Dune and Oasis or just choose one.
Feedback pertaining to Dune:
- We should include a failsafe mechanism to prevent guide from reaching a trajectory that would converge with the ACL tunnel.
- This could include a physical stopper mechanism or a visual mark indicating where this critical angle is to still allow room for the surgeon’s discretion. We had already thought of implementing something like this before the design review, but it was helpful to hear external confirmation of this concept.
Feedback pertaining to Oasis:
- There was concern over the instability in drilling angle, as well as the hole through which the drill was inserted not being long enough to stop excess rotation of the drill in unwanted directions and planes.
- There were questions surrounding the guide’s ability to clamp onto the leg, specifically how tight the clamp would have to be while also not damaging the skin or restricting blood flow.
- This was not something we considered for this prototype, but will account for when designing the next phase of this prototype.
When we asked our audience which prototype they thought was more effective in addressing our functional requirements (both in design philosophy and testing results), they said that Dune was slightly better, though it may be interesting to combine certain features into one device, such as implementing a clamping mechanism on the Dune prototype.