CHALLENGE
Adult patients with injuries to the big toe MTP joint need an effective, comfortable, user-friendly and non-surgical recovery option that allows them to support the healing process, reduce pain, and maintain mobility while wearing their regular shoes.
SOLUTION
Develop a non-surgical device that provides effective support and comfort to patients with big toe MTP joint injuries, enabling them to wear regular footwear while ensuring proper healing and minimizing pain.
HOW I HELPED
Design Researcher
Sketch Artist
Concept Development
Prototyping & Construction (Sewing, Pattern Making)
Rendering/Visualization
Comfortable and stable treatment for big toe injuries.
PROCESS
Can we provide comfort and stability to the healing process?
A foot has 26 bones - 14 of those are found in the toes. These bones are also called phalanges. Each toe has 3 phalanges except for the big toe which only has 2 bones.
Your big toe is known as the hallux and is extremely important. Any injury to this part of your foot is automatically viewed as a severe injury and requires medical attention.
Each toe has a connection point from the toe phalange connecting to its own long bone found in the foot. The is connection point is called the meta-tars-phalange-eal joint, or the MTP joint. Usually when people talk about the MTP joint, they are only referring to the big toe.
Important Terms
X-ray of Human Foot
We use our feet everyday!
Toe injuries are not uncommon. Nearly everyone stubs their toe and usually injures their big toe orpinky toe.
We use our feet everyday. They get:
Jammed Fractured
Stubbed Sprained
Crushed Pulled
Existing products on the market compared against one another based on support level and comfort show that there is an opportunity here to create something new.
Positioning map based on comfort and support.
Halifax Design Criteria
Making something that is effective at stabilizing the MTP joint but still allows for mobility is crucial. Comfort will naturally lead to patient compliance, so the solution should be comfortable to wear over long periods of time, should not cause pressure points or cause skin discomfort.
The solution needs to fit inside a regular shoe as people need to wear it throughout the day and make sure the design’s shape and size fits a range of shoe types. Protection for the MTP joint and injured toe against environmental danger is an obvious requirement. Also, it should be easy to apply, remove, and adjust the device.
I looked at different ways to prevent injury to the toe and stabilize the joint. This exploration led to 2 main concepts: a sock and a velcro brace.
After exploring the two ideas, the most promising concept was a sock design with an open toe and an adjustable strap. This design meets all of the design requirements and is adjustable, comfortable, washable, and stabilizing.
Halifax Ideation
Many variations of different brace styles
Real time sizing by using a mannequin foot.
Prototyping and feedback
Prototyping and feedback
The most promising were tested on a mannequin foot. This allowed me to see issues with each design in real time. It also showed a realistic size of the device on a foot to ensure that the design could fit into a users shoe.
The feature that sets this design apart from others is the use of 2 stabilizers. Made from plastic of different thicknesses, it allows the joint to move in a constricted environment as the user heals. Stabilization can change as needed as the user heals.
Bottom and top stabilizers of different thicknesses
A version of the joint stabilizers
The thickest stabilizers
In total, it took 7 versions to create the main pattern, 2 versions to create the stabilizing inserts, and 3 versions to create the toe flap.
After multiple construction and tests, the hallux Halfix was created. It is a comfortable solution to stabilize your MTP joint and big toe during injury recovery by encasing only the big toe. All of the toes are open for breathability and comfort. Additionally, large velcro areas allow for adjustability and user experience ease, a huge contributor to patient compliance.
Toe is wrapped individually for support
Sock covers whole foot for comfort
All toes are open to breath and fit regardless of foot length
Hallux Halifax
Inside support and cushion for healing and comfort.
It's easy to wear and use Halifax
It is extremely easy to use the Halfix. This is intentional to make it as easy as possible for users to comply with the healing process.
This design uses significantly less material than current products on the market. Because of this, Halifax allows you to wear your own shoes while in recovery. There is no more obnoxious boot or hacking a generic medical device to make it work. In addition, because it is now just an extension of the foot, these braces could come in skin tone colors to make it even less noticeable.
Wear existing shoes while in recovery.
Hallux Halifax
