Cryotherapy Unit

Student Team

Master of Engineering: Cole Stanfield, Landon Wellendorf, Lucia Jaquez
Undergraduates: Matthew Dugan, Megha Agrawal, Lineeth Sareddy

Trauma or surgery to the lower extremity (knee joint and femur) results in a period of arthrogenic muscle inhibition (AMI), a reflex in which the body inhibits motion of the injured joint to protect it while it heals. Anyone who has had ACL surgery might be familiar with this effect, where patients often notice weakness in the quads and significant muscle atrophy, lasting months to years after the inciting event. While it is thought to be a “protective” reflex, AMI can cause more harm than it does good. It’s reported that AMI can reduce the strength of knee flexion up to 90% during the first 3 days after surgery. In the immediate post-operative phase, this causes significant barriers to recovery as patients are unable to engage in physical therapy and feel unstable beginning to ambulate, as they are physiologically unable to fully engage their quads. 

We propose a combined approach to combating AMI that is wearable and available for use immediately after injury and/or surgery. The combined approach is 3-pronged, incorporating 3 evidence based practices shown to reduce effects of AMI on both muscle weakness and atrophy:

1. Cryotherapy
2. Transcutaneous Electrical Neuromuscular Stimulation
3. Joint stabilization