Project Description: 

Peripheral or pedal edema is defined as interstitial fluid that has been built up and trapped in the body tissue of the lower extremities. Pitting edema is a form of peripheral edema in which the edema will retain indentation if pressure is applied. Edema itself is a major indication of major health issues like congestive heart failure (CHF). It is necessary to reliably quantify the severity of lower extremity edema so that medical professionals can define the appropriate treatment plan for these health issues. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss design concepts, patents, and prior art available to address the issue of pitting edema quantification. Although many ideas were generated only the top three will be discussed in detail. Using inspiration from tools that allow for depth measurement and time measurement, the digital edema gauge was developed. This concept involves an independent sliding mechanism that has the ability to be locked in place and unlocked. This would allow for the device to be pushed into the edema, but for the skin itself to be the driving force behind the sliding mechanism’s movement. Although no prior tools for edema assessment exist, a patent search was performed. Patents were found that had either the ability to apply a pressure at a singular point or the ability to quantify the depth of an indentation. Although both patents had very similar motivations to the T-handle edema gauge, not every part of the respective independent claim was relevant. Thus, our idea has freedom to operate. The T-handle edema gauge concept is useful because it will allow for proper edema quantification while also being non-obvious in the sense that it would be the first device of its kind. This means our device is patentable.