{"id":78627,"date":"2026-08-24T13:59:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/?p=78627"},"modified":"2026-08-24T15:05:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T22:05:42","slug":"hopkins-f31-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/hopkins-f31-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"How to\u00a0engineer\u00a0a better ankle\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

It only takes\u00a0one\u00a0sprained ankle\u00a0to appreciate your ability to manage\u00a0the\u00a0stairs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now imagine, instead of a single injury, you have motor difficulties from a neurological disease that make stairs difficult or impossible all the time, not just for a couple of weeks. Imagine how much life could change with a wearable device that gave you the ability to take the stairs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sam Hopkins<\/span><\/b>, a doctoral student at NAU, wants to make that\u00a0experience universal.\u00a0An award\u00a0from the National Institutes of Health is helping him do that.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>Hopkins, who is in his fourth year in mechanical engineering professor Zach Lerner\u2019s\u00a0Biomechatronics\u00a0Lab,\u00a0won an F31\u00a0fellowship\u00a0from the National Institutes of Health, which is given to doctoral students doing research training in health-related areas. With this funding,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0building a flexible ankle orthotic\u00a0device\u00a0that helps\u00a0children with cerebral palsy live and move more independently.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“I\u2019m so thrilled that Sam has received this\u202fprestigious fellowship\u202fbecause he is one of the most talented, hardworking, deserving\u00a0Ph.D. students I\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Lerner said. \u201cThis award will provide exceptional doctoral training while advancing a transformative robotic ankle-foot orthosis design that may significantly improve mobility for individuals with cerebral palsy. By pioneering this adaptive robotic bracing technology that responds to changing terrain, Sam’s work has the potential to redefine assistive care and facilitate independence.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why a new device is needed<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Ankle orthotics already exist, but\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0stiff, like\u00a0a ski\u00a0boot\u00a0or\u00a0an ankle brace.\u00a0They\u00a0work for\u00a0walking, but\u00a0can hinder high\u00a0range-of-motion activities like climbing stairs, getting in and out of a car and even sitting down or standing up. Hopkins\u2019 device will offer greater flexibility, allowing\u00a0the\u00a0user to move more freely\u00a0during\u00a0typical activities and walk with greater stability and confidence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The orthotic will be made of carbon fiber tubing and 3D-printed parts\u00a0using\u00a0carbon-reinforced nylon plastic, which can be as strong as aluminum.\u00a0He\u2019s\u00a0also making it flexible enough that it\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0need to be fitted to each individual user.\u00a0Because of the materials and processes\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0using\u00a0and\u00a0no\u00a0need for customization, he estimates the commercial cost of each device\u00a0will\u00a0be about $2,000\u00a0per leg.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s\u00a0filling a gap in available and affordable assistive technology for this community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, you have the fully passive, spring-like devices\u2014they do one thing, and they do it really well\u2014but they can\u2019t adapt, versus the fully powered motorized exoskeletons that can do a lot of different things, but they\u2019re heavy and bulky,\u201d Hopkins said. \u201cOur device is that bridge. It\u2019s more lightweight than other devices, using smart and adjustable springs instead of a bulky motor; it\u2019s kind of passive but it still has that adaptability we want.\u201d <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Using Ironman, and a beloved relative, as inspiration<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Hopkins grew interested in this\u00a0type of work\u00a0from two simultaneous experiences when he was young. The first was seeing his grandfather dealing with the effects of cancer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a towering individual, and it was difficult for me to see how someone could lose those abilities due to cancer or other diseases,\u201d he said. \u201cIt took three people to help him move, and I watched him struggle to do basic activities.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time,\u00a0Hopkins\u00a0went to the movie theater and watched Ironman use technology to augment his injured body.\u00a0A superhuman\u00a0transformation\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0an option, but what if technology could help an injured person do daily tasks more easily?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve fallen in love with the fact that I can build something and test it to see if it helps people,\u201d he said. \u201cEven finding something that\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0work, it might lead to something else. This project will hopefully help us understand the field and how people interact with orthotic devices.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>Biomechatronics\u00a0Lab<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is focused on inventing wearable robotic exoskeletons that restore neuromuscular function and augments mobility. In addition to this research, Hopkins has\u00a0worked on a device aimed at reducing pain from osteoarthritis of the knee.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Heidi Toth | NAU Communications
\n(928) 523-8737 | heidi.toth@nau.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It only takes\u00a0one\u00a0sprained ankle\u00a0to appreciate your ability to manage\u00a0the\u00a0stairs.\u00a0 Now imagine, instead of a single injury, you have motor difficulties from a neurological disease that make stairs difficult or impossible all the time, not just for a couple of weeks. Imagine how much life could change with a wearable device that gave you the ability…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2797,"featured_media":78632,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-academics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2797"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78627"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78630,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78627\/revisions\/78630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}