ECE.03R – Rosalind Franklin Shoe Magnet

• An Bui
• George Livieratos
• Sanjay Paudel
• Que Tran

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 11.3 percent of the US population has diabetes. The complications that come with diabetes makes it harder for these people to navigate everyday life. One of the problems that comes with diabetes is diabetic foot ulcers. A diabetic foot ulcer is an open sore or wound that occurs in approximately 15 percent of patients with diabetes, and is commonly located on the bottom of the foot. Our sponsor at Rosalind Franklin University has come up with an idea for a shoe that will utilize a magnetorheological fluid to redistribute the pressure on the bottom of the foot in order to alleviate pain and help prevent the formation of the ulcers. The properties of the fluid are changed by a magnetic field that is created by electromagnets in the insole of the shoe. We are tasked with improving this prototype by making an electromagnet that is small, power efficient, and does not overheat. Our solution is to make a smaller electromagnet. Our electromagnet measures 1.5 inches in diameter and 0.67 inches in height. It can generate a magnetic field of about 700 Gauss with an input of 24 Volts. Since the electromagnet is smaller it will overheat quicker than the larger one because it needs a larger current to maintain the necessary magnetic field. Taking this into account, we have implemented a temperature sensor to turn off the electromagnet when it reaches 120 degrees Fahrenheit.