(Photo credit: Nate Grigg/Creative Commons)
Warmer weather has finally arrived in Toronto, but this hasn’t stopped researchers at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute from working on their winter footwear year round.
Researchers at the Toronto Rehab are working on creating a slip resistant material that could be used in the soles of winter boots to prevent slip and falls.
“I think anyone who has slipped or fallen on ice can testify that it is a painful or nerve-wracking experience,” Reza Rizvi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute working on the project, told AIP Publishing.
“Now imagine being frail or disabled – a slippery sidewalk or a driveway is all that it takes to trigger a life-changing fall. A serious fall on ice resulting in a hip fracture can be a death sentence for an older adult.”
Better footwear can encourage seniors to venture outdoors more frequently during the winter. Often seniors feel trapped indoors because they are worried about falling.
The material currently being tested is made from thermoplastic polyurethane, which is a compliant rubber plastic that is embedded with many glass fibres that dig into ice on a micro level to improve traction. While cleats can work in the winter, this material differentiates itself by allowing the wearer to safely walk indoors on surfaces such as tile, which is dangerous to walk on with cleats. While indoors, the material acts similarly to normal rubber, this allows it to stretch and bend accordingly.
The team is currently testing the product in its WinterLab where the weather conditions of a normal Canadian are replicated, including the cold temperatures, snowy and icy surfaces and high winds, which allows researchers to study slip and falls without having anyone be hurt in the process.
One aspect that needs to be overcome before it is used in the marketplace is improving the materials long-term use. It’s been shown that the material’s slip resistance fades with use. Also, while the team created a good material to prevent slip and falls, they’re looking to scale its production so it can be mass produced.
With over 21,000 Ontario residents visiting emergency rooms due to slip and falls on snowy and icy surfaces, this material could go a long way in improving a person’s safety and well-being during the winter.
“This work has the potential to have a real impact on the massive, expensive public health problem of winter falls, not to mention the dramatic improvement in quality of life for those living in northern climates,” Tilak Dutta, a lead member of the research team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute told AIP Publishing.
The personal injury and accident lawyers at Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers have been handling accident injuries for over 45 years. We know how to help you get compensation after a slip and fall accident. Call us at 416-920-4242 to set up a free consultation.
Greg Neinstein
Latest posts by Greg Neinstein (see all)
- Do I have a personal injury case? - April 23, 2019
- Are your insurance premiums high? Check your postal code - April 17, 2019
- This was an unusually harsh winter for slip-and-falls - April 11, 2019