Can we do better than tape?

Protect the precious, before it gets out of hand

The high incidence of sports-related hand injuries calls – loudly and clearly – for protective and preventive measures.

Hand injuries in sports, the countless incidence of incidents

How can it be possible that one of the most essential and vulnerable body parts is left so unprotected during sports? Is that not a little contradictory?

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The hand, human’s very own versatile but vulnerable tool

Bones, ligaments, muscles and tendons, they all lend a helping hand in forming the complex anatomical puzzle. That intricate puzzle is the hand. Small in surface, but great in versatility.

The project Background Goals

The project

Exoligamentz is developing a new, finger-protective sports glove that will have a superior functionality compared to sports tape (i.e. time-consuming, repetitive cost, functional discomforts) to minimise repetitive trauma and provide support during injury recovery in sports.

The project’s objective is to have a societal impact, in particular by improving the protection of (young) athletes against repetitive finger injuries that may lead to irreversible damage and dysfunction of the hand over time.

This new type of glove can impact various end-users in both sports and orthopaedic market. However, the focus is on injury prevention in those sports where gripping is often causing finger and hand injuries (i.e. combat and ball sports).

Background

Ashkan Joshghani is the founder of Exoligamentz. The idea behind the development of a finger-protective sport glove dates back to 2014 behind his student desk.

After encountering significant hand injuries in his sport (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) and lacking alternative of sports tape, he decided to address the issue by using his medical background knowledge to design an innovative sport glove.

During his studies veterinary medicine at Ghent University, he took action to fulfil the purpose he set in mind – to build up a company which produces innovative sport and orthopaedic products.

Over the last two years, he formed an international team of researchers and professors to work on the project on a daily basis. Currently, the research and development is funded by the Ghent University Industrial Valorization Fund (IOF).

Goals

Exoligamentz established an international collaboration between academic institutions and industrial partners to further develop the product. The goals of this project are threefold:

To select the proper materials and production methods most suited for industrialization
To develop prototypes and perform tests in low volumes
To reach out to athletes in different sports

The unique (and validated) features of the glove are a dedicated number of supportive external ligaments to minimise fingers injuries. The advantages can be summarized as follows:

Time-saving
Re-usable
Unrestricted movement
Enhanced joint protection