414 research outputs found

    Towards an affordable assistive device for personal autonomy recovery in tasks required of manual dexterity

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    This paper reviews the results of a challenging engineering project that arose with the goal of implementing an electromechanical, automatic, portable, and inexpensive device. The device should be able to assist people who lack of dexterity in their hands to use small tools and everyday utensils, such as scissors or tweezers. In this paper, the hardware development and software functionality are described. The original specifications were developed to implement an affordable functional prototype able to serve as a low-cost assistive technology. Several commonly used electronic devices were integrated to create an innovative application. A simple mechanical system based on gears and a worm screw is used to convert the stepper motor rotation to a linear movement on the device tip. A tool-oriented control to increase the device usability was designed through two simultaneous communication channels: touch-screen and smartphone app. Pilot trials were conducted at healthcare facilities to evaluate the technical feasibility, the obtained functionality, as well as the device acceptance by target users. Based on user experience design, the app functionality was enhanced and subsequently tested. Finally, a review and reformulation of the specifications of the original design were accomplished. These changes helped to achieve a system with a lower manufacturing cost and better acceptance, while considering the user in the development cycle.This work was supported in part by the RoboCity2030-III-CM Project (Robotica aplicada a la mejora de la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos. Fase III; S2013/MIT-2748), in part by the Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid, in part by the Structural Funds of the EU, and in part by the private Fundacion Universia

    Development of a general purpose computer-based platform to provide functional assistance to people with severe motor disabilities

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    Research and development into a generic assistive platform, which can accommodate a variety of patients suffering from a wide range of motor disabilities is described. Methodologies were established, whereby the design could be made sufficiently flexible, such that it could be programmed to suit these people in terms of their needs and level of motor disability. This needed to be achieved without redesigning the system for each person. Suitable sensors were chosen to sense the residual motor function of the disabled individual, while being non-invasive and safe for use. These sensors included a dual-axis accelerometer (tilt switch), a 6-key touch sensor and a SCATIR switch (blink/wink sensor). The placement of the sensors, for the purpose of this study, were restricted to sensing arm (dual-axis accelerometer) or finger movements (touch sensors), head and neck movements (accelerometer) and blink/wink and/or eye-brow movements (SCATIR switch). These input devices were used to control a variety of different output functions, as required by the user, while being non-invasive and safe for use. After ethics approval was obtained, volunteers with various motor disabilities were subsequently invited to test the system and thereafter requested to answer a series of questions regarding the performance and potential usefulness of the system. The input sensors were found to be comfortable and easy to use, while performing predictably and with very little to no fatigue experienced. The system performed as expected and accepted all of the input sensors attached to it, while repeating specific tasks multiple times. It was also established that the system was customisable in terms of providing a specific output for a specific and voluntary input. The system could be improved by further compacting and simplifying the design and operation, while using wireless sensors were necessary. It was thereafter concluded that the system, in general, was capable of satisfying the various users’ diverse requirements, thereby achieving the required objectives

    Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Fiji 2002

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    [Excerpt] Training and Employment of People with Disabilities: Fiji 2002 is descriptive in nature. When the ILO commissioned the researchers for the Country Study Series, each was asked to follow the comprehensive research protocol appended to this document. The resulting report therefore includes country background information, statistics about people with disabilities and their organizations, a description of relevant legislation and policies and their official implementing structures, as well as the education, training and employment options available to people with disabilities. While few countries have such information readily available, researchers were asked to note the existence or lack of specific data points and to report data when it did exist

    A Qualitative Study of the Professional Experiences of Teachers With Mobility Challenges and Their Self-Perceptions of Professional Success

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    This qualitative investigation explored the professional experiences of 3 Ontario teachers who have mobility challenges. The study’s participants (2 male and 1 female) were Ontario teachers who have permanent physical disabilities that challenge their means of mobility. Each participant has an Ontario Certified Teaching License and has either taught or is currently teaching in an Ontario school. My primary source of data collection was a semi-structured face-to-face interview with each participant. The focus of the interview was participant perspectives. Data analysis was accomplished in 3 phases. Data analysis generated 5 prominent themes of commonality among participants: (a) independence and sacrifice, (b) living with pain, (c) barriers and obstacles, (d) the importance of communication, and (e) professional benefits and personal rewards

    A Participatory Design Framework For Customisable Assistive Technology

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    High product costs and device abandonment negatively affect people with disabilities who require Assistive Technology (AT), and poor product design is a root cause. The purpose of this research is to develop and demonstrate a participatory design framework for customisable AT, which addresses the need for low-cost assistive products that satisfy a broad range of consumers’ needs. This framework addresses two main gaps in the literature. First, user involvement in the design process of medical and rehabilitative products helps create products that are more effective but, although methods to involve users exist, there are currently scant techniques to translate the research data into design solution concepts. Second, adaptive mass customisation offers a way to reduce a product’s cost by making it useful to more people and adaptable to a user’s changing needs. Although the creation of one-off, tailored AT devices is discussed in the literature, there are no methods to support the development of customisable or adaptable AT. Two-phases of participatory design research are described in the thesis, and make up the body of the design framework. First, a Delphi study is used to facilitate AT professionals working with individuals with disabilities in reaching a consensus on important design issues relating to a specific type of AT. An adapted morphological matrix is then presented as a novel way of applying the results of a Delphi study to concept generation. The second phase facilitates the involvement of AT users with disabilities in a series of participatory design workshops to create a final product design and prototype. The research approach was exploratory and Assistive Technology Computer Input Devices (ATCIDs) were employed as a sample technology domain to develop and substantiate the framework. Three key contributions resulted from this work; a wide range of problems and design issues related to ATCIDs; a method for using touch panel technology as a customisable ATCID; and, most pertinent due to its transferability, a participatory design framework for customisable AT with recommendations for participatory design practice involving individuals with diverse disabilities

    Yale Medicine : Alumni Bulletin of the School of Medicine, Spring 2010

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    This is the Spring 2010 issue of Yale Medicine: alumni bulletin of the School of Medicine, v. 44, no. 3. Prepared in cooperation with the alumni and development offices at the School of Medicine. Earlier volumes are called Yale School of Medicine alumni bulletins, dating from v.1 (1953) through v.13 (1965).https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/yale_med_alumni_newsletters/1028/thumbnail.jp
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