Design Project 4 - Sole Survivor

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Skills

Technical Skills:

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Soft Skills:

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Project Overview

The fourth design project I took part in involved me and my team in creating a device that would help two actual patients. Names cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality, but for communication's sake, the cover names are Emily and David. Emily is a patient with Multiple Sclerosis and doesn't get to enjoy simple things like playing sports or running. David is a patient that was injured in a motor vehicle accident over 30 years ago that resulted in damage to the spinal cord at the C6 level. Emily’s main focus was to be able to gain mobility in her body, enjoy her hobbies, or treat her symptoms. Davids's main focus was to be able to swim again and participate in an Iron Man triathlon.

Due to her flexibility with Emily, we decided to move on with her as the patient to help. We didn't want to limit ourselves with ideas, so we believed Emily would give us the opportunity to achieve something that would actually help the patient. The main reason was that David was also the far more popular patient, which furthermore solidified our decision to go with Emily.

Final Decision - Emily

Problem at Hand - Provided Patient Details

Patient Biometrics

Age - 66

Weight - N/A

Sex - Female

Height - ≈ 5 Ft 1

Patient Information

Retired
Married, live’s in a single home dwelling, big yard
Community Volunteer
Almost 66 years old
Mother of three/Grandmother of three

Symptoms

Weakness/lack of right hand making some activities difficult. She is right-handed.
Affected mobility
Foot drop – right foot
Can’t walk long distances without Bioness or an AFO.
Gait disturbance

Current Condition:

Multiple Sclerosis

Exercises to help with Condition

Exercises Core strength.
Balance exercises; Arm pull-downs with weights
Hip/foot strengthening (toe/hip lifts).
Nu Step for cardio and warm up.

Patients requirements:

The device that:

This will allow her to walk longer periods of time.
Regain the ability to do certain activities she was once able to do but lost the ability because of Multiple Sclerosis.
Allows her to move without hindering her mobility.
A device that can help all patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

A list of notes taken while interviewing the patient.

Objectives and Constraints

Objectives

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Constraints

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During these preliminary stages of the project, I was really motivated to start working on the project as I wanted to apply the skills I learnt during the previous design project. Thankfully we had a good team that was willing to listen to each other. Another nice thing is that, as a team, we all agreed to make a device that Emily can actually use rather than a device that will probably be thrown out later. This really motivated us to think of different methods to help this patient. And that is how we ended up with Sole Survivor. Sole Survivor is a shoe attachment that will autocorrect the uneven ground to prevent her BIoness from malfunctioning.

For this project, I was the Manager. I was responsible to serve as the team’s point of contact with the instructors, promoting an equitable work environment, assume a leadership role in identifying and managing team conflict. My main roles were prototyping and conducting research.

Skills

Technical Skills:

Soft Skills:

Project Overview

Final Decision - Emily

Problem at Hand - Provided Patient Details

Objectives and Constraints

Objectives

Constraints

Design Process