Recently in assistive technology Category

I remember at the age of 14 being afraid to call the pizza man for fear I wouldn't speak clearly or get our family's dinner order incorrect. I can't imagine having enough gumption to ask, for example, Mercedes-Benz to pick up the tab for, hypothetically, a bionic hand.

14-year old Matthew James was born without a left hand. He dreamed of having a sophisticated bionic hand, but his family couldn't afford the $43,000. But a chance meeting with Ross Brawn gave Matthew a life-changing experience: a new hand, for free.

He wrote to Ross Brawn, the man in charge of the Mercedes GP Petronas team, after Brawn visited his school in Berkshire, England. Matthew asked the F1 team to help his family raise the money, and even offered to have the hand sponsored by Mercedes-Benz to compensate. A member of the team reached out to Touch Bionics, a Scottish company specializing in advanced medical devices. They waived the cost of installing the hand and training Matthew on how to use it, while Mercedes was kind enough to cover the rest. And the hand is advanced enough for an F1 team: it features five individual motors, allowing each finger to move independently. The F1 team and Touch Bionics have agreed to share technology that could benefit both organizations.

Touch Bionics just introduced i-LIMB, a significant advance for the product line, with a host of enhancements including pulsing grip strength, multiple software-enabled grip patterns and robust aluminum features for improved user confidence. The i-LIMB Pulse joins a family of products that has been fitted to more than 1,200 patients worldwide.

The version received by the kid has a see-through outer-shell and will get a little Mercedes badge by the wrist. Meanwhile, after touring the Mercedes factory and meeting Michael Schumacher, Matthew now hopes to pursue a career as an engineer with F1.

Here Matthew explains the mechanics of his gifted hand.

I'm always so intrigued and amazed when I see such incredible technological advances such as this. It is especially mind-blowing when I see such cutting-edge devices created by two bright college students. This innovation in prosthetics will revolutionize the way we aid injured workers on their road to recovery.
 
Two Ryerson University undergraduate biomedical engineering students are changing the world of medical prosthetics with a newly developed prosthetic arm that is controlled by brain signals. The Artificial Muscle-Operated (AMO) Arm not only enables amputees more range of movement as compared to other prosthetic arms but it allows amputees to avoid invasive surgeries and could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Developed by third-year student Thiago Caires and second-year student Michal Prywata, the AMO Arm is controlled by the brain and uses compressed air as the main source of power. The digital device makes use of signals in the brain that continue to fire even after a limb is amputated. Unlike most mind-operated prosthesis, the Artificial Muscle-Operated (AMO) Arm doesn't require invasive surgery, and according to its inventors, it costs a quarter of the price to make. This is such a unique aspect to this device. It only makes sense that struggling college students are wallet-conscious!

It took a year to develop the software program for the AMO Arm while the actual prototype was created during a marathon 72-hour design session. Although they are still students, Prywata and Caires are moving ahead on the commercialization of their innovations. They have formed their own company, Bionik Laboratories Inc., and are currently seeking three patents for the AMO Arm and their other technologies. Their recent acceptance into Ryerson's home of innovation and commercialization: the Digital Media Zone (DMZ) will help them in achieving these goals. These brilliant student's work was also featured at the 2011 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) IShow, designed to showcase student's innovative designs, and provides high-profile exposure that these student's concepts might not otherwise receive.

In future, they plan to develop the AMO Arm further by making it able to sense different materials (e.g., an egg versus a full bottle of water) and adjust the applied force proportionately.

Check out this fascinatned video from creators and students, Michal Prywata and Thiago Caires, as they quickly explain the arm:

Wound V.A.C. (Vacuum Assisted Closure) Treatment is a therapy used widely within the workers’ comp and healthcare world. It’s known to expedite the healing process, essentially returning an injured worker back to work or a familiar way of life sooner. However, it’s equally important to understand how V.A.C. Therapy works deep inside the wound to achieve these outcomes.

V.A.C. Therapy provides negative pressure wound therapy for applications ranging from severe wounds and grafts/flaps to post-surgical incision management. The variety of V.A.C. Dressing configurations enhances ease-of-application and reduces the need for dressing changes to only every 48-72 hours. The durability and portability of the battery-powered V.A.C. Therapy System enables patients to receive treatment during ambulation or other arrangements.

KCI offers a wide range of clinically proven, economically beneficial wound healing therapies and technologies designed to deliver positive outcomes for patients and healthcare professionals. They even have a branch designed for veteranarian use — KCI Animal Health.

We are used to seeing this used for injured workers, but interestingly enough, this technology was repurposed to save the life of a sea turtle after sustaining two propeller injuries - and even shortened his healing time.

This Real Ramping Project is brought to us by Mobility Specialist, Tony LaLonde. "This was a unique project because the ramp was built to the unusually high threshold." Tony tells us. "It descends from the back door 4th to a platform turns 90 and descends another 20 ft discharging on the sidewalk giving it a 12:1 pitch and a safe discharge point." 

When injured employees become wheelchair bound, it is important to have a reliable vendor partner who is knowledgeable in the installation of modular aluminum ramping.

The benefits of aluminum ramping include:
• Installation within hours
• No building permit required
• Maintenance free
• Virtually indestructible
• Can be stored or "banked" for later use
• Does not reduce value of property
• American made

If you have any questions about your upcoming ramping needs, feel free to contact Total Medical Solutions at 1.800.700.9393 or intakes@newtms.com or www.NewTMS.com.

Whenever you need a good cry, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition never fails. Their stories are so touching and uplifting, you can't help but to be moved to tears. This past Sunday's episode was no different. This episode featured the Hall Family from Kansas. The family of six was hit hard by tragedy on June 26, 2010, when a car accident left dad, Carl, paralyzed from the shoulders down, leaving him a quadriplegic. Wheelchair bound for the rest of his life, Carl depended on Sip-n-Puff technology to maneuver.

Carl was a baseball star at Wichita State, and later went on to play semi-professional baseball and coach his son's baseball team. The accident robbed him of his passion and the special bond of baseball with his son, Logan. Brent Bushnell of Syyn Labs worked with the design team to create a special machine that would allow him to use sip-n-puff technology to control a pitching machine to make it possible for him to pitch to Logan again.

"Sip-n-puff is like mores code. A long puff and a short puff mean something. Stitch them together to create its own little language" says Brent. "When creating this special machine, we designed it to recognize one short puff to control speeds, and one long puff sets it up to fire the ball." This ultimately allowed Carl to pitch either a fast ball, curve ball, slide ball, etc. to Logan. "I never thought it would be possible to pitch to my son again" Carl said with such appreciation for returning to his two biggest loves - baseball and his son. "I'm actually playing sports with my Dad again. It makes me so happy" exclaimed Logan.

It's amazing to see such a deserving family receive what they need to help them move forward from such a tragedy. They have such a great perspective on life - turning lemons into lemonade. "We're just making lemonade", explained Carl, "you get handed something that may not be the best, but you can do something with it." To remind the family daily of their lemonade story, the design team completed their home with a bright yellow, lemonade-themed kitchen. Incredibly inspiring.

To see the full episode, click here - I highly recommend it!

We are watching the progress of eLEGS, unveiled by Berkeley Bionics last fall, very closely. It is going to revolutionize quality of life for many people who are paralyzed. 

Watch this short video and see for yourself how new eLEGS test pilot, Sarah Anderson, takes her very first steps at Berkeley Bionics. According to the company, Sarah progressed quickly from a walker to crutches. Read more about Sarah and her story on Empowered, the official blog of Berkeley Bionics.

In December, CNN named eLEGS as the #3 Innovation of 2010, topped only by electric cars, and of course Apple's IPad, which secured the #1 spot for innovation in 2010.

And another brief video shows testing in progress at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta just a few weeks ago:

According to a press release issued in October 2010, Berkeley Bionics strives to provide the 6 million Americans who are living with paralysis today "unprecedented mobility options." For the past 500 years or so, options for paraplegics have been limited to wheelchairs. Berkeley Bionics' CEO, Eythor Bender, says "We want to enhance their independence and freedom of movement, and with eLEGS, they can stand up and walk for the first time since their injury."

The press release states that the eLEGS device can be adjusted to fit most people between 5'2" and 6'4" who weigh 220 lbs or less, in a matter of minutes. Users must be able to self-transfer from their wheelchair.

And finally, read more about eLEGS in an article post from TIME's Healthland titled "Bionic Legs Allow Paraplegics to Get Up and Walk."  

Here's a success story we couldn't pass up sharing. A four-year-old miniature horse in Texas named Midnite surpassed expectations when he received a $14,000 prosthetic leg. Ranch Hand Rescue, a non-profit organization that rescues ranch animals in distressed situations, acquired Midnite after law enforcement removed him from a neglectful owner. "Midnite was in really bad shape," said Bob Williams, who runs the animal farm. "I would say critical condition."

The ranch contacted a local Fort Worth company, Prosthetic Care, who was eager to help and up for the challenge. "Prosthetic care had never built a leg before, they'd built them for humans but they'd never build them for horses," Williams said. What happened next exceeded the expectations of Williams and the rest of the Ranch Hand Rescue staff. "Our hope was that with a prosthetic leg he would be able to walk and be out in the pasture with the other horses and just enjoy being a horse," Williams recalled, "When he ran and when he jumped we all cried, it was just the most amazing thing I'd ever seen in my life."

Check out Midnite's galloping success in this heart-warming video below:

It's always encouraging to hear of advances that help to restore a person's identity that they once knew before their life-altering injury.

RealLifeProsthetics is an organization devoted to improving the quality of life for individuals affected by disfiguration and amputation through the sensitive replication of natural anatomy. Michael Scarzello-Kaczkowski, BFA, Director of Alloplastics, has over 20 years experience in alloplastic/anaplastology reconstruction. He is an artist, inventor, and prosthetic skin technology pioneer. RealLifeProsthetics specializes in prosthetic eyes, fingers, hands, arms, feet and legs.

What's particularly interesting is RealLifeSkin, a branch of RealLifeProsthetics that specializes in prosthetic skin. What's unique about their approach to prosthetics is the revolutionizing prosthetic-alloplastic technology. This technology is not just prosthetic skin, but an entire process that is adaptable for fabrication into alloplastic and prosthetic devices as small as a fingertip or as large as entire leg. 
In real human skin, the epidermis layer has fingertips and skin detail; it also contains pigment called melanin. When the skin is exposed to the sun, more melanin is created to help counteract the damaging rays of the sun.

Likewise, RealLifeSkin's epidermis skin layer contains remarkably realistic fingerprints and skin detail along with a simulated melanin. When an amputee wearing a RealLifeSkin prosthesis gets a tan on their real skin, they can be supplied with "prosthetic melanin: so that the prosthesis can be made to match their new tan. Each user is able to apply it directly on the prosthesis where it is absorbed immediately into the epidermis layer. Each subsequent rubbing of the tanner makes the RealLifeSkin gradually dark.

Check out this brief video of a RealLifeSkin recipient successfully typing with the use of his prosthetic. He states that the typing experience, given the very low weight of the arm, is extremely comfortable.

Working with complex care patients can be a challenge. All of a sudden, a patient can develop an ulcer wound or several wounds that can get out of hand very quickly and lead to many other complications. This is not only an issue with paralyzed patients. Any patient who is bed ridden or confined to a wheelchair for a few weeks, like with a broken bone, could be susceptible to ulceration wounds. When you know a patient will be immobile for any length of time, getting a pressure mapping image on file is a good idea.

What is pressure mapping?

Pressure mapping provides a graphic image of surface pressure, where the skin comes into contact with a surface such as a wheelchair cushion or a mattress. Listen to a podcast by Rehab Management, The Interdisciplinary Journal of Rehab Medicine to learn more about it. The podcast is just under 11 minutes in length.

Zack Craft, vice president of rehabilitation technology and complex care at Total Medical Solutions, says, "Pressure imaging is an essential and handy tool to use any time you have a patient that may be immobile for more than a couple of weeks." Zack recommends pressure mapping on any file where a home visit presents potential issues. "It is especially critical when you are aware of other existing issues with a patient. For example, if the patient has diabetes or obesity, any change in pressure on certain parts of the body could lead to wound development right away." Providing a pressure mapping image at the onset of an injury or surgery is prudent.

Change Your Underwear, Man!
a.k.a. Zack's Underwear Case

Pressure mapping is just one piece of a complex puzzle, but can play a critical role when considering how new wounds have developed. Consider Zack's "underwear case." Zack used pressure imaging on a case once to rule out wheelchair cushion problems, mattress problems and a host of other potential issues. When a long-time paraplegic patient developed wounds all of a sudden, Zack was called in for a home visit. The patient was otherwise healthy and there seemed to be no visible changes that would have caused the wounds. After the home visit and quite a bit of sleuthing, Zack figured out that the patient's underwear was the cause.

Yep, that's right, his underwear. You see, through a detailed series of questions and answers, Zack discovered the wife had recently started buying her husband silk briefs as opposed to cotton ones. In complex care, we get real up close and personal. You have to. Subtle changes like a change in fabric can cause major differences in friction or shear between the patient's skin and the surfaces it touches.

So, while pressure mapping didn't solve Zack's underwear case, it definitely played a crucial role. Zack was able to use pressure mapping images to rule out a lot of other causes. Often, wheelchair cushions are thought to be the blame, or mattresses, etc. and new ones are ordered without consideration. This can add up to hundreds, or thousands of dollars on a claim, and in many cases is completely unnecessary.

Does Your DME Provider Offer Pressure Mapping?

Any time you have a patient who is immobile, whether your patient is paralyzed, or has a short-term injury, it is a good idea to ask your DME provider for a pressure mapping image as soon as possible. Establish a baseline image on the file, then, consult with your complex care specialist to determine how often a new image should be taken.

An article by Satish Misra, MD posted on iMedicalApps states the U.S. spent over $70 billion on home health care in 2009. "Medical kiosks - a new drive-thru model for healthcare? " also talks about how a Massachusetts-based telehealth company has been working on several platforms for delivering healthcare in remote locations. The three platforms currently available by BL Healthcare include: television, kiosk and touchscreen.  

Dr. Misra points out that the kiosk technology holds some promising opportunities for people who are physically unable to make regular visits to the doctor for preventative care. If the kiosk technology can be packaged into "mobile care units" it could allow patients with limitations the ability to get regular preventative care, keeping them out of the hospital and improving their quality of life. Learn more about BL Healthcare's healthcare delivery platforms.

Will the iPad change the way doctors practice medicine?

The iPad 2 event was big news last week all over the airways and the blogosphere. The unveiling of the iPad 2 certainly created a log of excitement to say the least. In another article on iMedicalApps, "iPad 2 keynote video by Apple: the iPad will change the way doctors practice medicine", Iltifat Husain explains how Dr. John Halamka, Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, was featured in the iPad video presentation titled "2010, the year of the iPad" video. In the video, Dr. Halamka says "The iPad will change the way doctors practice medicine."

Steve Jobs also made reference in the keynote speech to the plethora of apps available for the iPad in vertical markets like medical. Watch the iPad 2 keynote video at Apple's website.

As evidenced by the launching of the 2nd generation of iPads in a year's time, technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace. It will be interesting to see what innovations lie ahead in healthcare delivery. Be sure to watch Dr. Halamka's blog, Life as a Healthcare CIO, as he is sure to provide an interesting perspective.