Biomedical Innovations - PLTW Activity 3.1.3

Question

I need help with either:

Creating an improvement of an existing product within the realm of medicine, dentistry, or assisitive care

OR

Coming up with my own innovation for the fields listed above

It cannot already be in the works or in clinical trials. I am only asking for an idea that I can easily develop once I get some background on the issue the product will address. I basically just need the invention and I will figure the rest from there. Thank you so much if you answer this inquiry.

Answer 1

Hi Abigail. I can think of some things in assistive care, based on my care giving experience with my mother.

She is 85 years old and has a cane on every floor of the house, one in the garage and at least two in the car. I am always tripping over them and knocking them down. They are also of different types: folding, 4-footed, small footed stand-by-themselves, plain old fashioned.

What about kits/accessories to adapt the canes to the user's needs?

Example: My mother locked herself out of her house because she reflexively shut the door, with the house key still inside the house. I jury-rigged a key fob for her outdoor cane so she now always has a key with her. But that cane does not have a light built-in, and rigging a flashlight is not as easy as a key fob. At night she still struggles to find the keyhole in the dark.

When we go out, someone is always tripping over her cane if it is leaning against a wall. We don't always get a corner table, so the walls aren't always there, either. Moving the cane out of the way means taking it away from her, which is also robbing her of her independence. Many rounded chair backs won't hold a purse, so they can't hold a cane either. The floors in most eateries are nasty too, so that is not an option.

Buying several canes with all the bells and whistles, if you can find one with what you need, is too expensive. But buying kits to adapt her existing canes would make sense for us.

The possible list:

1. easily detachable key ring, or a key ring on a retractable cord
2. flashlight (these do exist, but are hard to find to fit all types of canes)
3. EASY TO USE replacement foot to make a traditional cane freestanding. Think of something that does not require tools to add or remove, but is still secure and reliable.
4. cane holder for use on a table or counter (think something like a purse hook maybe)
5. gps/locator chip, not for navigation but for locating the cane/cane's user if necessary
6. emergency call button

Those are just a few ideas. The list could go on for a long time. If you have the time and the chance to talk to cane users and their care givers, you would get more ideas.

I do hope this helps.