medical device story 2018

Riggs School Students Showcase Medical Device Development at Expo

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Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) students participated in the Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences’ 4th Annual Medical Device Expo on Friday, Dec. 14. The expo is part of the ALS 425 course titled “Device and Diagnostic Product Development” taught by Professor Anna Hickerson.

“Students worked in teams to create medical and assistive devices,” stated Hickerson. “Each team showcased their work while also demonstrating their prototypes during the expo.”

Students were able to use skills such as 3D CAD modeling and printing, Python programming for CUI development, computer vision, and device prototyping.

The winning team at this year’s event, MicroSense, developed an AI-assisted, microscopy-based diagnostic that identifies protozoan infections in blood, addressing an unmet need for mobile, affordable diagnostic devices in third-world countries.

“Most of us are currently working towards our dream of going to medical school, so this project gave us an opportunity to create a product that could potentially save lives.”

Tochukwu Anyaduba, one member of the winning team, stated, “It also exposed us more to the knowledge of medical device development.”

Below is the complete list of products featured at the expo:

Team Cozl
Members: Alfonso Canto, Esther Chae, Jeannie Lee, Annette Massihi, Prema Vyas
Description: Cozl is a comfortable, safe, reliable, and controllable electric blanket that is marketed to the healthcare industry as well as individuals in need. The blanket has several key benefits: keeping patients warm and reduces the risk of hypothermia during after procedures; reducing muscle tension in patients with arthritis and other musculoskeletal illnesses; and increasing comfort results in accelerating their recovery and health.

Team Happy Hands
Members: Elizabeth Celaya, Eric Fang, Jacob Gomez, Jonalyn Herce, Elsy Rivero
Description: Happy Hands is a comfy, therapeutic glove designed to help patients with carpal tunnel in physician recommended wrist/hand exercises. This glove allows for both the prevention and treatment of carpal tunnel by utilizing exercise feedback for both a stress ball exercise and a wrist flex exercise, which allows for optimal patient therapy.

Team MicroSense
Members: Tochukwu Anyaduba, Natasha Belle Co, Francisco Lee, Seung Yeon Seo, Eyouab Tadesse, Nickie Toloueenia
Description: There is a need in third-world countries for mobile, affordable diagnostic devices. To address this need, FENDS Diagnostics has developed MicroSense: an AI-assisted, microscopy-based diagnostic that identifies protozoan infections in blood.

Team OxAssist
Members: Robert Grepo, Megan O’Leary, Eun Ae Park, Aryan Sangwan, Ria Yalamanchili
Description: OxAssist is the novel way to easily transport your oxygen tank and keep you mobile! Don’t let your oxygen weigh you down!

Team Relax
Members: Nazmehr Biabani, Raeven Chung, Natasha Ghose, Adar Makovski Silverstein, Jonathan Naab
Description: The Relax product is a wearable device for your wrist to help with anxiety and stress relief. It involves motors that will massage a pressure point on your wrist, to give you a sense of calm. It is also connected to an app on your phone via Bluetooth to further assist you and a way to reach an emergency contact if necessary.

Team UVPro
Members: Tom Haber, Christy Hoong, Tarundeep Singh Kalsi, Bryan Lopez, Madhumita Suresh
Description: UVPro is a lightweight, easy to operate, and affordable UV monitoring device. This new innovative portable device help monitors sun exposure through a phone application ultimately allowing the user to be under the sunlight with confidence.