Wearable system for evaluating joint performance and function

A knee brace comprising:

• a wrap configured to be pliable and comprising:
• a first plurality of fluid chambers integrated into the wrap that is configured to conform to a shape of a knee of a user, the first plurality of fluid chambers having an electroactive gel, the electroactive gel being activatable to adjust a pliability of the wrap;
• and a second plurality of fluid chambers integrated into the wrap comprising an interior wall, the second plurality of fluid chambers structured and configured to contract a surface of the knee, the interior walls of the second plurality of fluid chambers structured to facilitate transdermal delivery of one or more nutrients contained in the second plurality of fluid chambers;
• tension sensors embedded into the wrap and arranged in an array across at least one horizontal axis and at least one vertical axis of the wrap, each tension sensor comprising a flexible wire configured to stretch or compress to generate a signal corresponding to changes in geometry in response to movements of the knee;
• one or more force sensors located at each intersection between tension sensors on the at least one horizontal axis and tension sensors on the at least one vertical axis, the one or more force sensors is configured to collect force measurements responsive to movement of the knee;
• and a controller coupled with the wrap, the controller configured to:
• receive signals generated by the tension sensors corresponding to the movement the knee and the force measurements collected by the one or more force sensors;
• generate a mapping of the knee corresponding to changes in a shape of the knee during the movement of the knee;
• and generate a signal to activate the electroactive gel in the first plurality of fluid chambers to adjust the pliability of the wrap based on an analysis of the mapping of the knee.

A wearable device comprising:

• a pliable wrap comprised of a plurality of fluid chambers coupled together to structure the wrap that is configured to conform to a shape of a joint of a user, each fluid chamber of the plurality of fluid chambers comprising an electroactive gel, the electroactive gel being activatable to adjust a pliability of the wrap;
• an array of tension sensors embedded into the wrap across one or more horizontal axes and one or more vertical axes of the wrap, each tension sensor comprising a flexible wire configured to generate a signal describing a movement of the joint covered by the wrap by stretching or compressing as a geometry of the wrap changes;
• one or more force sensors located at each intersection between tension sensors on a horizontal axis and tension sensors on a vertical axis, the one or more force sensors is configured to collect force measurements based on the movement of the joint;
• and a controller coupled with the wrap, the controller configured to:
• receive signals generated by the array of tension sensors describing the movement of the joint and force measurements collected by the one or more force sensors;
• generate a mapping of the joint describing changes in a shape of the joint during the movement of the joint;
• and generate a signal to activate the electroactive gel in the plurality of chambers to adjust the pliability of the wrap based on an analysis of the mapped joint.