Title: Monitoring of Orthosis Use for Hand Osteoarthritis
Supervisor: Dr Angela Kedgely
Devi is a PhD student in the Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London enrolled in the EPSRC CDT in Prosthetics and Orthotics programme. Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint condition that leads to progressive pain and reduced mobility. Consequently, those living with hand OA often find it difficult to perform activities of daily living. Affecting the majority of over 80s and a third of postmenopausal women, this condition is a burden to many in society. There’s currently no known cure, but orthoses are a non-invasive and inexpensive treatment option often used for symptom relief. When investigating the effectiveness of orthotic treatment, patient compliance is usually monitored using patient diaries. This can be subjective as it’s been found that patients can overestimate their levels of compliance. If patients do not wear an orthosis as instructed, the desired anatomical impact will not be achieved, and the orthosis will simply not work as intended. Therefore, Devi’s PhD project is on the monitoring of orthosis use for hand osteoarthritis. Prior to joining Imperial College London, Devi completed her MEng (Hons) degree in Biomedical Engineering at King’s College London. Devi’s hobbies and interests include art, music and reading.