Thinking Like An Engineer

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While preparing for my lecture, Tissue Stress Theory: Changing the Paradigm in Biomechanical Therapy for the Foot and Lower Extremity, at the 2nd International Foot Pathology Conference to be held in Zaragoza, Spain in a few weeks, I made some images of my March 1992 Precision Intricast Newsletter which was published in my first book (Kirby KA: Foot and Lower Extremity Biomechanics: A Ten Year Collection of Precision Intricast Newsletters. Precision Intricast, Inc., Payson, Arizona, 1997). I thought you all might like to see what the older Precision Intricast newsletters looked like when mailed to the podiatric customers of Precision Intricast Orthotic Lab from that era.

Please note the following passages from this newsletter I wrote about three years before McPoil and Hunt first coined the term "Tissue Stress Model" (McPoil TG, Hunt GC: Evaluation and management of foot and ankle disorders: Present problems and future directions. JOSPT, 21:381-388, 1995):

Hope to see many of you in Zaragoza in a few weeks!

 

Mahalo Kevin,

I agree with you that engineering is a key component to crafting our mechanical treatments.

The problem you have noticed since 1992 is that our knowledge of the true mechanical properties of our living tissues are not known "enough".

Evidence of this was seen when in the last Olympics when a more ambled runner ran in the semi-finals the 400 meter race without any feet (in 46 seconds!). It was debated that his prosthetic feet were returning over 92% of the mechanical impact energy but when the IOC researched if it created an unfair advantage they could not prove it because they could not prove the energy return of normal human tissues.

Advanced composites are gaining in use in many engineering projects such as reinforcing bridges and roadways and airplanes and sports equipment like (tennis racquets, golf clubs, curling brooms) and prosthetics.

Thinking like an Engineer will assist in our use of these strong and light materials in our orthotics to reduce harmful tissue stresses.

Quote, "Once we are certain of the various stresses on the structural components then we can design our mechanical therapy specifically to reduce or eliminate those stresses."

A Hui Hou,
Steve

Don't Get Weft Behind It Is Warp Speed Ahead With Kingetics Advanced Composites...TM