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Ana Duarte

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Father invents special chair for autistics

The ‘Sensory Lounger’ is made from a long armchair with two airbags which are constantly being pumped with air, in order to envelop the child inside them.
This should provide children with the sensation of being squeezed tightly or being given a hug.

Mother creates drinking aid

Both her child and father inspired her to create this invention.

Girl with cerebral palsy develops cartoon about herself

The teen developed the cartoon because she felt there was a lack of awareness about the disability, which meant her fellow pupils felt uncomfortable approaching her and were too shy to ask questions.

"The absolute worst part of school is walking down the corridors between lessons and the unwanted attention I get from other kids," she says.

So she wrote down her life story, explaining the feelings of isolation and anxiety she deals with as part of her condition.

Autistic write books for teaching autistics

“I was able to overcome autism because I had good teachers”, Temple said.

She wrote these notes on how to teach autistic people:

Custom-made and artistic prosthetics

The artist’s project is called The Alternative Limb Project.

System to help blind people navigate

Shiloh used robotics to find a way for the user to be free of the white cane.

“A robot is blind until you put sensors on it,” she explained. “Why don’t we put sensors on the blind, so they can navigate like robots?”

The student created a system that combines a wide-brimmed hat, vibrating motors, and a robot vacuum cleaner’s laser distance sensor to come up with the wearable device that warns the wearer of obstacles through vibrations.

3D printing to heal broken bones

After breaking his hand during a fight, Evill was saddled with a plaster cast for a few months. “I was surprised by just how non-user friendly those cumbersome things are,” he said. “Wrapping an arm in two kilos of clunky, and soon to be smelly and itchy, plaster in this day and age seemed somewhat archaic to me.”

Evill figured there had to be a better solution, but there wasn't. So the young designer set about creating his own.

A prosthetic/bionic foot easier to walk with

The mechanical engineer had studied prosthetics as an undergrad, but his physical therapy was a crash course in the biomechanics of walking. "That's when I realized that prosthetic feet were nothing like natural feet," he says.

Teen creates Helmet-Mounted Concussion Sensor

Braeden's friend was shaken up after taking a blow to the head during a football game, but he got up and back into it. Later in the week, he developed headaches — and that’s when he was diagnosed as having suffered a concussion.

He should not have kept playing after getting hit. Subsequent impacts after even minor head trauma can cause serious brain injuries that lead to dementia, memory loss, personality disorders, and other issues later in life. So letting the brain recover after a shock is extremely important. Don’t “just play through it.”

Assistive walking device

Jon Christiansen was a sea captain. In 1985 he was hired to sail a replica of the Godspeed.

One day while he was cleaning the ship's hull, someone spun the wheel, trapping Christiansen's leg between the rudder and a support post. The accident severed or damaged most of the nerves below his left knee. Doctors told him he would never have feeling in his left foot again.

Shoes for people with disabilities

His letter went viral and eventually made its way to designer Tobie Hatfield, who had worked with Special Olympians and Paralympians on similar challenges. The two collaborated by phone and email for three years.

In his letter, he explained: ‘Cerebral palsy stiffens the muscles in the body. As a result I have flexibility in only one of my hands which makes it impossible for me to tie my shoes.’

Teen invents multifunctional smart cane

The cane's functions include a flashlight, pulse monitor, and smartphone-connected medication reminder. "What's so cool about our generation," Mary says, "is that we can start using technology to revolutionize these very basic necessities of life."

Student invents Braille glove for deaf people

The device is basically a leather golf glove that transmits the wearer’s hand movements to words on a hand-held monitor. His invention won the top prize at the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Competition.

The device got Patterson a full-ride Boettcher Foundation scholarship.

This made people more independent because deaf or nonspeaking people don't need to have a translator follow them around. Ryan Patterson invented it in 2002. It was made to make deaf or nonspeaking people more independent.

Boy creates waterproof lightweight prosthetic leg

“He was a polio (or poliomyelitis) victim and couldn’t walk without a prosthetic limb. It was dangerous for him to be near water, so I decided to invent a waterproof prosthetic that would make his life easier”, Adeeb said, referring to his father.

In one day, the prototype was complete and father and son were able to go to the beach and swim.

Pouch for people undergoing chemo

“I created the PoppyPocket for my dad to wear his ambulatory infusion pump and tubes more discreetly, comfortably and safely. It is an elastic band with two separate pockets stitched on to securely contain the pump and tubin”, Julie explained.

Months before Julie Hyzdu's father died, she watched him struggle with a self-worn device that helped distribute his chemotherapy medication.

3D masterpieces for the blind

“I was born with one arm shorter than the other. All my life, I continually had to prove that I was capable of doing everything I wanted to, from playing guitar and riding motorcycles to lifeguarding and weightlifting. I also had an uncle who worked as a mechanic and became blind in adulthood through glaucoma. I saw he was able to continue to do most anything a seeing person could do”, explained the designer.

How to get a Patient with Dementia to eat more

Alzheimer's and dementia patients sometimes lose interest in eating. This can happen for a long list of reasons including loss of taste, the ability to smell, memory loss, and thinking they already ate.

Here go the author’s tips:

"1. The First Question I Always Ask is - What Color are Your Plates?

Man invents solution for his mother's Alzheimer's disease

“I want to make something clear. I did not arrive at this solution to urinary incontinence over night. It took years.
Once we finally developed the solution, it still took many months before it started to work effectively. Here is some good news. The solution becomes more and more effective over time. My solution is not perfect. It does not work every single day. It does not work every single night. I can say this with some confidence - we no longer experience the flood”, said the caregiver.

Bob had to do a lot of trial and error before we could develop this solution.

Man invents Speech Synthesizer for the Language Impaired

Sherif’s project is a Speech Synthesizer for the Language Impaired. It is an embedded device that helps people with speech impairments to communicate with others easily. The device converts the deformed speech into normal speech for the general public to comprehend. This speech can also be converted to text that can be read by the user in order to check what was said to the intended audience. The novel feature is the mechanism which transforms these sounds to regular speech.

Patient creates fashionable products for diabetes devices

The inventor was diagnosed with diabetes when she was four. After many years of injections she started using an insulin pump. While her medical health improved, she struggled with the social inconvenience and wearability of the device. During her thesis research, she found her story was similar to many other women and began conceptualizing a way to improve the experience in terms of comfort and confidence.

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