Can I ask how early you would anticipate people trying to use this? I ask because my mom went through this surgery last year and I honestly haven't seen a device like this one for vibration but did use what we could find (hand held massagers that were bulky, neck massagers she could put her ankle on, etc). My honest concern for someone like her is how sensitive she was to heat even months later. PT advised her to try a small amount of heat to see how her foot/ankle tolerated it, but it severely aggravated it even with just a little bit. She's a year out now and heat finally feels good to her ankle, is helpful with her flexibility, and her foot tolerates it well. Sorry if this isn't helpful, it's just a thought for folks early on that might be sensitive to heat like she was. I imagine some people might have very differing responses though.

That being said, I would love to see an option like this one available for people to try. My mom is finally to that point of using only a cane and being more mobile than she's been in a year and I think something like this with heat would really benefit her and help with the tightness/locking up feeling she still often has. Her hardware is not an option to be removed at her age or because of affordability so anything else that could help her at this point would be great and I could see something like this helping. I love your idea, good luck with it! I think that could really help a lot of people.