ASPIRE
 

Mario Bermudez

The purpose of my summer research project is to develop a drop-off detection system for power wheelchairs.  This involves researching different types of sensors, such as, infrared, lasers, LEDs, and sonar.  With drop-off detection, I must also find the stopping distance of wheelchairs so that I know whether or not the wheelchair will in fact be able to react in time to the detected drop off to prevent falls and injury to the user.
 

Robin Bratcher

My project focused on designing the hardware of a virtual coach and the components to assemble it to a wheelchair. I also had to design the interface of the Virtual Coach based on different environmental factors and user compliance.  I used Solidworks in order to design the hardware and assembly pieces.  A rapid prototyping machine was then used to create the design physically. 

Eric Brindle

My project is focused on wheelchair transfers of various heights and distances and determining what muscles are active during the transfer.  We are using a surface EMG to look at seven shoulder and elbow muscles bilaterally to determine the demand for each muscle during the sitting transfer.  The transfers are completed from the subject’s personal wheelchair to a target bench at a lower, equal, and higher height that the wheelchair.  We are comparing the various muscle demands when the subject completes the transfer from the preferred vs. non-preferred side, a 3” gap between the chair and bench vs. no gap, and the leading arm vs. the trailing arm in the transfer.

Shannon Brody

I am working with Ana Souza and Dr. Collins on a descriptive study on individuals with multiple sclerosis.  My everyday tasks include: data entry, analyzing data, and assisting in various tasks.  I am currently working on my RESNA paper, which analyzes the number of falls associated with different assistive devices for individuals with multiple sclerosis.  My favorite part of working for HERL is becoming friends with the other interns (and Kevin) because they are so diverse in their experiences, are an absolute blast to hang out with, and are some of the coolest people I have met in college.

Greg Gorham

The goal for this summer is to design and fabricate a prosthetic foot testing apparatus. Once built, I will use it in the beginning stages of this study. The main objective of this study is to gain information on how and why prosthetic feet are failing when used by active-duty army amputees. In the beginning, the testing will be fairly simple with loads applied strictly in an axial direction as described by ISO standards for prosthetic foot testing. From here lateral and torsional loads will be applied in an attempt to mimic the loads that the prosthetic feet being used by the active-duty army amputees are seeing to try and replicate the same failures. The end purpose of this project is to modify the current testing standards for prosthetic feet.

Jackie Meathe

This summer I’m working as an undergraduate research intern at Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL).  The research project I am involved with concerns wheelchair handrim technology and its effects on upper extremity injury.  I work with electromyography (EMG) and ultrasound technology to help analyze the effects of repetitive arm motions in wheelchair users.  
 

Robert Metzler

I am working under Dr. David Brienza at UPMC South Side in the Rehabilitation Science and Technology lab.  The project I am working on tests a variety of surfaces to find the best way to prevent pressure ulcers in power wheelchair users.

Zac Talmadge

At HERL my primary summer project is the development of a website to instruct clinicians and patients on how to prevent upper extremity injuries in patients with spinal cord injuries.  I am also working on testing the Natural-Fit Handrim to help determine if this style of hand rim helps decrease upper extremity pain in paraplegic patients.

Jennifer Tang

I am currently working on analyzing data for a follow-up study for acute mountain sickness. This study will help better understand how disabilities affect people who travel into high altitudes at a rapid pace. I will also be studying EMG data from people with amputations to observe nerve entrapments after different periods of time. This data will also be later compared to other wheelchair studies from people who have a nerve entrapment and later develop into carpal tunnel. I have been recently assigned another survey to enter data for, which will see how everyday life impacts wheelchair users.

Betsy Timcho

My summer project is developing protocol for overground wheelchair propulsion data collection and analysis.  The testing will involve a Vicon motion capture system and a SmartWheel system to collect kinematic and kinetic data of wheelchair users on smooth concrete, carpet, and a wooden ramp.  I will be using Matlab and statistical software to analyze the biomechanics variables.  Wheelchair propulsion has much higher variability than gait studies, so it is necessary to determine the number of strokes required for data analysis and the repeatability of the trials.

Rob Waaser

This summer I am working with Dr. Brad Dicianno and graduate student Harshal Mahajan on a project involving the applications of a rigid force-sensing (isometric) joystick to improve the mobility of people with severe upper-limb impairment. More specifically, I am writing a program that will use computer access tasks to test the effectiveness of advanced tremor-filtering algorithms as patients with cerebal palsy interact with the program through use of the aforementioned joystick. These algorithms, when combined with the isometric joystick, are anticipated to significantly improve the ability of a patient with tremors to manipulate an on-screen cursor or a power wheelchair when compared to the performance of a traditional joystick. I am excited to be contributing to this effort, and throughout the course of this program I hope to gain significant hands-on experience with user-oriented application programming in a professional environment.

QoLT
Keirsten Dawson

I am currently an intern at the Human Engineering Research Laboratories under Dr. Diane Collins. Together we are studying Disparity in Wheelchair Quality of Veterans with Spinal Cord Injuries. This research study has taught me a lot about disparities in wheelchairs but also about disparities in health care as a whole. The most important thing I have learned since becoming an intern…this experience is not about what you research or study , its about how to conduct research, complete a literature review, analyze data, write a research paper and most importantly how to think like a researcher. Challenges I face as an intern at HERL are allowing me to grow, mature and learn in ways I never thought imaginable.

 

Genevieve Jerome

This summer I am working on developing an Interactive Electronic Technical Manual (IETM) that will help people who have experienced a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) assemble a flashlight from start to finish.  The purpose of my project is to come up with a way for TBI victims to have an easier time performing tasks since their injuries usually involve memory loss and distractibility.  The goal of the IETM would be better employment percentages for TBI survivors. 
 

Eunice Ji

I am working at Robert Bosch Research and Technology Center in Pittsburgh for the summer. The project I am involved with explores technologies that can enhance quality living for older adults and help them age in place.  By using advanced sensing technology (in the form of wearable or embedded devices), we can learn about people's daily living, physical activities and gather information about vital signs. This information can be used to alert for emergencies, analyze long-term trends and provide useful feedback to people. My responsibility is to learn about older adults, their needs and goals, and to use that information to define the areas of daily living where technology can intervene.

 

Gordon Johnston

I am a rising junior from Little Rock, AR. I am currently majoring in biology and biomedical engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. In high school, I performed my first experiment  using a survey to correlate the number of hours spent watching television or playing computer and video games with prescriptions for myopia and hyperopia. Recently, I have done research dealing with genetics and congenital heart disease at the Washington University Medical School preceding and during my freshman year through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Prefreshman Research Program at Washington University in St. Louis .  My first project was trying to locate modifier genes on the mouse genome by using polymorphic microsatellites. My second project was diagnosing mice with various heart defects including ventricular septum defects, atria septum defects, and valve problems. Through these experiences at school, I have heightened my learning and interest in the field of biomedical and engineering research. My current interests primarily deal with biomechanics and human vision.
 

Rahul Kuppuraj

Rahul is currently working on the Golden Wheelchair project at HERL, whose aim is to develop a smart electric-powered wheelchair (EPW) that will provide safe and effective control for EPWs for people with severe disabilities. Specifically, it plans to approach this problem by developing algorithms that take into account sensory information from various sensors and adjust the operation of the wheelchair accordingly. Rahul is presently designing a gear system to be implemented into the smart wheelchair that has been, until now, running on a less efficient belt system. In the first two weeks, he worked on and completed designs for a caster wheel shaft and a caster wheel encoder cover. He used Solidworks to do the designs. After completion of the gear system design, he is to work on programming for the caster wheel encoder that is yet to be implemented into the EPW.

Katharine Lee

My task this summer is to assist in the development of a virtual physical therapy coach that can help people with osteoarthritis of the knee.  The graphical avatar will be able to instruct someone in exercises that can improve their knee function, as well as provide the proper encouragement to help them succeed.  I will also be helping run a pilot test study to gage how people react to instruction from a robot.  We will be designing specific behaviors for the avatar (nurturing, drill sergeant) that will be used in the instruction based on the patient’s preference/personality.   We hope that the avatar will eventually be able to determine how well a person is performing the exercises, how they are reacting to feedback from the avatar and be able to adjust accordingly.

Linford Leitch

The central theme in my group is to restore volitional movement with neuroprosthetic devices, such as prosthetic arms that are controlled by myoelectric signals (EMG) and brain signals, such as ECoG and MEG. I am current building a model to represent the human brain, using lab-view to simulate brain activity. The simulation is testing the effectiveness of a program that my faculty advisor is working.

 

Erhinyuse Oyiborhoro

My summer project pertains designing a wheelchair convoy linkage for use in nursing homes. The wheelchair convoy is a system of aligned automated wheelchairs whose movements can be synchronously controlled by one caregiver as he or she moves the patients to their destinations. The wheelchair convoy will improve healthcare efficiency in nursing homes as patients will be able to get to appropriate activities and appointments without a long wait time. 

Heather Tomko

This year, Heather is working on a project that looks at the Nintendo Wii as a way to motivate physical activity for people with muscle weakness.  She will be running a study during the course of the internship that will compare using the Wii and traditional weightlifting as different forms of exercise, and look at the effects of both forms of activity on both muscle strength as well as motivation to exercise.  In addition, she is helping on a project that looks at different motivations and their effect on people’s level of physical activity.

Amanda Urick

At the CREATE lab in CMU's Robotics Institute, Amanda is working on a project called the canary/sensory safari.  The canary is a compact, portable unit that is used to detect light, sound, air pollution, temperature, air pressure, and humidity in the surrounding environment.  This past week, she mainly spent time assembling the canary units and getting to know how the canary operates in the environment.  These units are going to be introduced at the Carnegie Science Center (CSC), the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh (CMoP), and the Art Cart (which is located in various parks of Pittsburgh) as part of the Robot 250 celebration occurring in the summer.  At these events, children and their parents can take these canaries on "safaris" and explore their surrounding environments at the CSC and CMoP.  At the Art Cart, the children can use these canaries (using the light/sound setting) to make a "robot" move.  At the end of the week, she constructed these "robots" in a manner where the children can decorate them in any fashion they wish.