Student Work

Investigation of UCL Tears in Baseball Pitchers

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Tearing of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is one of the most common injuries for baseball pitchers. During a pitch, the UCL experiences high levels of stress between the cocking and acceleration phase. Because this stress cannot be directly measured in vivo, a pitching robot with many biomimetic features was created to gain a better understanding of these forces. This robotic research platform was then used to design a brace that reduces the amount of stress the ligament undergoes, potentially prolonging the play time for athletes. The robotic arm featured seven independently, pneumatically actuated Hydro Muscles and a biomimetic UCL. When the brace was used on the robotic arm, the force on the artificial UCL decreased during the pitching phases which validated its effectiveness.

  • This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.
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  • E-project-042519-111953
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Year
  • 2019
Date created
  • 2019-04-25
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Permanent link to this page: https://digital.wpi.edu/show/n296x184f