Innovating in motion

In Elisa Arch's Orthotics and Prosthetics for Enhanced Mobility Lab, students are exploring novel approaches to help those with Achilles tendinopathy (AT) return to daily activity more quickly.

The common overuse injury impacts as many as 24% of athletes, according to University of Delaware-led research published in The Journal of Athletic Training, and is increasingly seen in sedentary individuals and linked to metabolic disorders and diabetes.

"Because it's an overuse injury, modification of activity is beneficial during rehabilitation," said Arch, associate professor of kinesiology and applied physiology in UD's College of Health Sciences.

However, a lack of tendon loading can lead to tendon atrophy.

"The elasticity of the tissue changes and sometimes never recovers," Arch said. "Being inactive during rehab can exacerbate comorbidities and be very detrimental to a person's overall health."

Outside of physical therapy, which is prescribed for these injuries, it is harder to modulate tendon load during daily living. That got Arch, whose expertise lies in orthotics, thinking.

"Can we use an ankle-foot orthosis (AFOs), which braces the ankle joint, to control the load on the tendon?"

Working alongside Stephanie Cone, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, and tendon expert Karin Grävare Silbernagel, professor of physical therapy, and with seed funding from UD's Big Ideas Challenge, Arch is pioneering this research while training students in hands-on innovation.