Four undergraduate Eastern Michigan University engineering
students designed a physical therapy walker for disabled
patients. In the process, they caught the eye of a Kalamazoo
manufacturer.
With the desire to help the handicapped, Harvey
Lyons, an EMU engineering professor, instructed his engineering
students to visit assisted living facilities and the VA
Ann Arbor Healthcare System Medical Center. At the medical
center, students Laura Lankford, Vincent Licari, Salem
Salem and Lucas Norman met with Alexandra Sciaky, the
center's coordinator of clinical education and physical
therapy.
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WALK THIS WAY: Harvey Lyons, an Eastern
Michigan University engineering professor, had
four
of his undergraduate students design a physical
therapy walker that could be used by disabled
patients
at assisted living facilities and the VA Ann
Arbor Healthcare
System Medical Center. The design
has drawn interest
from a Kalamazoo manufacturer.
|
Sciaky provided the students with the idea of a special
walker: one that could be folded and carried, with adjustable
heights, and include an IV holder, a blood oxygen pulse
monitor mount and a place to hold an oxygen tank.
The design and development of the walker spanned two semesters.
The project was the students' senior capstone project,
which is a year-long class designed to replicate what is
actually done in the mechanical engineering industry.
"We had to narrow down our idea, try out several different
designs, present them to the class for feedback, determine
safe materials, choose reasonable quotes and keep communication
with Dr. Sciaky for her comments," said Lankford.
After the project was completed, the Ann Arbor News wrote
a story that captured the attention of the Kalamazoo manufacturer,
who e-mailed Lyons requesting more information. But before
any mass production is a possibility, it will take some
time to figure out whom the idea belongs to and who will
receive credit if the walker is manufactured.
Philip Rufe, EMU's technology transfer coordinator, is
currently waiting to receive invention disclosure forms
from the students to determine who contributed what to
the final design. The timeline from concept to product
is difficult to estimate.
"I need to first determine what the invention is, who
invented it and the circumstances surrounding its development," Rufe
said. "After
that, I can determine if any intellectual property protection
is available, who owns it and how it can be sold or licensed.
Nothing can move forward until inventorship (if there is
a protectable invention) is determined."
According to Rufe, it could potentially take several years
for the product to be sold. Finalizing the design, building
prototypes, patenting, licensing, etc., can be a long process,
he said.
After a year of planning and development, the students
learned first-hand experience about teamwork that will
benefit them in their future careers.
"Finding time outside of class for everyone to work on
the project, assigning tasks and agreeing on specific details
took a lot of patience and perseverance," said Lankford.
"I am very proud that our project could be used to help
the veterans at the VA and potentially other people that
need help with our walker," Licari said. "I think the walker
will be the biggest help to the physical therapists around
the area."
In the end, "if EMU decides they are not interested in
pursuing the building of the walker, we will hand over
our design to the VA of Ann Arbor for their engineers/technicians
and help them if need be," said Lankford.
Whichever direction the project takes, the year of hard
work the students put into this project could eventually
pay off — literally.
