Beyond Limits: An Intelligent Wheelchair for Inclusive Living
The aim of this project is to enhance the mobility of individuals with disabilities, particularly aiding them in navigating stairs and challenging terrains. Across the world, powered wheelchair employ various methods, primarily categorized into two: 1) tracked mechanisms and 2) robotic wheelchair utilizing intricate robotic systems. The design presented by our team belongs to the latter category, which is recognized for its lighter build when contrasted with the former. However, despite its lightweight structure, this wheelchair design incorporates equipment that renders it more cost-effective and practical than conventional designs within the same category. Our design integrates three distinct mechanisms to adjust the height and center of mass of the passenger during stair climbing and maintain balance and surface contact. Utilizing an array of sensors, it continuously monitors the position of the person on the wheelchair and the wheelchair on the surface. This data guides adjustments in the mechanisms, ensuring stability. This innovation harbors the potential for enhancing various functionalities, including: GPS integration for user navigation. Real-time monitoring of vital signs (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature). In an emergency, this data can be transmitted to ambulance centers to pinpoint the individual's location and immediate assistance. A simplified ambulance request system, accessible via a single button press. Overall, this innovative wheelchair prototypes aims to revolutionize accessibility, granting enhanced mobility and independence to individuals with disabilities.
Production of Nano-Composite Artificial Bone Tissue Using Bioceramic Synthesis from Bio-Waste
Certain specially structured ceramics, which can be used as biomaterials to replace bone, have recently started being utilized in the medical field. The aim of this study is to produce high-bioactivity silica from corn cob waste, a widely available organic material in nature, and combine it with calcium oxide (CaO) obtained by grinding organic mussel shell waste with high bioactivity. This combination is intended to synthesize dicalcium silicate (2CaO.SiO₂) to develop an alternative tissue scaffold with high bioactivity, capable of replacing bone, for existing titanium alloys. The goal is to incorporate this scaffold into PEEK (polyether ether ketone), a novel tissue scaffold material, at varying percentages to create a next-generation innovative bone substitute material. An additional objective is to demonstrate through biocompatibility tests that the produced ceramic-polymer biocomposite exhibits antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus.
Automated Alternative Compression/Traction of Lower Extremities AACT as a Musculoskeletal Countermeasure to Mitigate Bone Loss and Muscle Atrophy in Microgravity
Space Medicine and relevant sciences are still considered a new era; the first humankind steps toward the space took place since less than 60 years. It has been noticed the adverse effects of microgravity on the human body in different aspects, our concern here is the musculoskeletal aspect. On the ground we didn’t notice how we can stand up, or how our muscles and bones of the lower limbs can keep us standing up right. This is by a complicated process including the bones, the equilibrium, and the anti-gravitational muscles of the lower limbs which occurred without thinking about it. The force of Earth gravity against our bones of the lower limbs makes them harder and makes the muscles stronger, because they are interfacing the earth gravitational force every moment we are standing up, as per Newton’s third law (for every action in nature there is an equal and opposite reaction), such forces are unavailable in space and its effect being obvious on arrival to earth after long stay space flights, so being unable to keep standing upright easily on their arrival. On return to earth the routine medical examinations revealed loss of astronaut muscle mass and bone density particularly of their lower extremities because they did not use them in space for a long time. Currently, astronauts on board of ISS (International Space Station) they accomplish daily tasks including resistive exercises ARED “Advanced Resistive Exercise Device” in form of treadmill, ergometer, and weightlifting machine, to decrease the loss of bone density and muscle mass of their lower limbs. Despite their discipline to those exercises they still lose 1-2% of the muscle mass and bone density that give importance to add some protective measures to keep their muscles and bones healthy. Through this article, the idea is to make a device such AACT (Automated Alternative Compression/Traction) to be applied daily to the astronauts lower limbs as part of their daily exercise during space flight to give push/traction forces to astronauts lower limbs to prevent or at least decrease such loss, by AACT we are mimicking the gravitational force of earth on astounds lower limbs during long space flights to let them be healthy till they come back.