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Arm Orthoses – Low Resolution Prototyping

Keshia News
Arm Orthoses – Low Resolution Prototyping

Low Resolution Prototyping Challenge – October 2015

A team of students, working to create new arm orthotic designs, collaborated this week in a low resolution prototyping challenge. After brainstorming a total of 50 ideas, the students were charged with the task of creating prototypes of their sketched orthoses using common everyday objects around the lab. Their ideas sprang to life while working with cardboard, duct-tape, string, paperclips, and elastic cord. Low resolution supplies allowed for sketched ideas to be communicated to a group in a quick, cheap, and testable way. After 20 minutes of building time, students showcased their prototype and discussed what worked and what did not work. Here are a few glimpses into the event!

IMG_9069CJ Smith, Sasha Portnova, Bradley Wachter, Keshia Peters, Gaurav Mukherjee, and Mark Chang took part in the challenge.

Two NIH R01 Grants Funded

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NIH logoThe Ability & Innovation Lab is excited to announce that two of our recent grant proposals have been funded! This funding will help to accelerate our mission to improve movement for individuals with neurologic disorders.

Quantifying patient-specific changes in neuromuscular control in cerebral palsy: Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, this research will examine how new measures of neuromuscular control can be used to better predict outcomes after multi-level orthopaedic surgery for individuals with cerebral palsy. We will be working in close partnership with Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, one of the leading institutions in the management of pediatric neurological disorders. This research will address the challenge of identifying the best treatment for each individual. Cerebral palsy is caused by a brain injury and every brain injury is unique. We will be using new measures from muscle synergy analysis (see prior work here) to determine how patient-specific measures of control can be used to predict outcomes after surgery.

Ubiquitous rehabilitation to improve movement after neurologic injury: Funded by the joint NSF-NIH Smart & Connected Health Initiative, this research will work in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin to use flexible electrodes to track and train muscle activity after stroke and other neurologic injuries. We know that more practice and use after brain injury increases long-term recovery and function. This research will investigate new pathways for both motivating patients to re-learn to use their muscle and providing doctors and therapists with the data and insight needed to guide and customize therapy.

Perry Initiative: Inspiring future female engineers and orthopaedic surgeons

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Seattle Children’s Hospital hosted the Perry Initiative this weekend to inspire women to pursue careers in engineering and orthopaedic surgery. Dr. Jacquelin Perry was one of the first ten women orthopaedic surgeons in the country and has been a mentor to countless women and men throughout her career. She is known for her work quantifying human movement using tools such as motion analysis, electromyography, and ultrasound. She developed new surgical procedures including methods to straighten spines and inventing the ‘halo’ to immobilize the spine, neck, and head.

Learning to fix bones with external fixation at the Perry Initiative.This weekend, 25 women from local high schools, joined surgeons and engineers at Seattle Children’s to learn about common medical tasks and cutting-edge medical technology. They tried their hand at casting, suturing, external/internal bone
fixation, and rotator cuff repair.

From the Perry Initiative: “Engineers and orthopaedic surgeons work hand-in-hand to develop safe and effective implants for repairing broken bones, torn ligaments, and worn-out joints. Strong partnerships between surgeons and engineers are essential for improving the performance of orthopaedic implants and creating solutions to unmet clinical needs.”

We agree! Here’s to many future collaborations with diverse teams of engineers and surgeons.

2015 Levinson Emerging Scholar

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Sasha during her first testing session with her 3D-printed orthosis.Sasha Portnova has been named one of ten 2015 Levinson Emerging Scholar’s! This is a highly competitive program supporting talented and highly motivated undergraduates who want to pursue creative and advanced bioscience and related research. As a Levinson Emerging Scholar, she will receive funding to support her research, including funding to present their findings at a professional conference. The award will support Sasha’s on-going research to improve the design of affordable, 3D-printed orthoses for individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurologic disorders. She will also be presenting this work at the American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists in Orlando, March 9-11, 2016.

Congratulations Sasha!

Ivan Owen: Washington Access Fund 2015

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CKing 5 story on prosthetic work at UW Bothell.ongratulations to one of our collaborators, Ivan Owen from UW Bothell, for being selected as one of the top nominees for the Washington Access Fund 2015 Innovation Award! Ivan was one of the original co-creators for the 3D-printed prosthetic hand and released the designs open-source which has led to the formation of the global Enable movement.

You can also learn more about Ivan’s recent work on this recent news story from King 5
.

We will find out on Nov. 12th if Ivan is the 2015 awardee. Good luck Ivan!