A measurement knee brace with a built-in load sensor on the medial strut was developed to investigate the use of CB braces for knee osteoarthritis. We measured the load acting on the CB brace during walking. As a result, the medial pillar acted as a corrective force against the knee joint adduction moment. The length of the strut was determined from the measured load, and the length multiplied by the corrective force was defined as the corrective moment. These measurements were normalized to one gait cycle, and the corrective moments in the movements of knee osteoarthritis patients were compared with those of healthy subjects. Based on the results, the mechanical loading status revealed that compared to healthy subjects, knee osteoarthritis patients receive more support in the medial strut comprising the knee brace structure.

Endoscopy and catheterization are minimally invasive procedures that assist with postoperative recovery. The tools and instruments used in these procedures require complex fabrication and assembly processes because of their numerous small parts. Therefore, the fabrication and assembly of such parts are expensive, and their disposable usage is difficult. Herein, we developed a small-diameter grasping forceps equipped with a monolithic gripping mechanism. When a tensile force is applied to the loading part, bending joints enable the two tips of the grasping mechanism to move toward each other, thereby allowing grasping. The forceps is then returned to the open state by unloading. The tensile force is applied to one point of the loading section. When driving the two joints of the forceps simultaneously, the displacement of each joint is half that of the unilateral drive, which reduces the stress due to deformation. The designed monolithic forceps requires no assembly, so there is no risk of part dismantlement. Although we manufacture the grasping mechanism via metal injection molding, its design specifications and basic structure are not discussed in this work.