Capstone Design Projects in Rehabilitation to Aid Persons with Disabilities

Pi：Mitra，KunalProposal编号：1403345佛罗里达理工学院生物医学工程本科课程于2012年秋季学期开始。佛罗里达理工学院生物医学工程系的战略愿景是通过整合教育、发现、创新和创业来促进医疗保健。这项建议的目的是通过让当地医学界和行业代表参与，为生物医学工程学士学位学生开发一种新的高年级顶石设计项目。Capstone设计项目的结构是从大三的春季学期开始，为期三个学期，向学生介绍解决问题的团队方法。每年都会组织一个学生设计展示会，在那里所有的顶峰项目都以海报的形式呈现，有时还会有可行的面包板设计。行业成员被邀请参加展示，以评判项目并向学生和教师发表演讲。智慧的优点：拟议的高级顶石设计项目的一个独特方面是，它将由佛罗里达理工学院的教职员工和执业医生以及支持该项目的行业专业人士共同指导。医生将与教师和行业代表一起在大三期间向学生提供案例研究的演示。然后，在那个学期，学生将被要求制定提案和发表演讲，并由参与的教师和医生进行评估。在他们的高年级，多学科团队的学生将在参与的教师和医生的监督下执行项目。为了更好地为Capstone项目的学生做好准备，我们提出了一种临床沉浸体验。作为三年级末暑期临床沉浸期的一部分，每年将邀请八到十名进入大四的本科生参加六到七周的计划，观察临床活动，获得与临床医生互动所需的沟通技能，并确定随后可以在他们的生物医学设计项目中解决的需求。临床沉浸式将在奥兰多退伍军人医疗中心、布里瓦德康复医学、健康南海松树康复医院、美国宇航局肯尼迪航天中心和背部中心等组织举行。虽然这种方法在有医学院的大学中可能很常见，但对于没有医学院的大学来说，这种方法是独一无二的，正在被提议用于进行基于团队的高年级设计项目。临床沉浸项目的目标是为学生提供与医生互动的机会，以了解现有技术的工作原理和任何局限性，这反过来将引发讨论，并需要开发新的设计项目。对培养创业梦想感兴趣的学生将有机会在初三和高三通过企业孵化器中心选修课程。广泛影响：这种帮助残疾人的设备的开发将：(A)为学生提供实际的工程经验以及个人有益的体验；这也可能鼓励他们在未来利用他们的专业技能造福残疾人士；(B)通过设计和制造满足他们需求的定制辅助技术设备，帮助残疾人变得更加独立；(C)促进学习和反思残疾个人的日常生活，以及与他们密切接触的家庭成员、治疗师和教育工作者的日常生活。学生发展他们的团队合作和沟通能力(口头和书面)，学习工业中使用的产品开发过程，并了解医疗器械设计的独特要求和限制，从而为他们在生物医学工程领域的职业生涯做好准备。

PI: Mitra, KunalProposal Number: 1403345A BS program in Biomedical Engineering started at Florida Institute of Technology in the Fall 2012 semester. The strategic vision for the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Florida Tech is to advance healthcare by integrating education, discovery, innovation and entrepreneurship. The objective of this proposal is to develop a novel approach to senior year capstone design projects for students enrolled in BS in Biomedical Engineering by engaging the local medical community and industry representative. The capstone design project is structured as a three-semester sequence beginning in the spring semester of the junior year and introduces students to the team approach for problem solution. Every year a student Design Showcase is organized where all capstone projects are presented in a poster format setting sometimes with working breadboard designs. Members of industry are invited to attend the showcase to judge projects and speak to students and faculty.Intellectual Merit:A unique aspect of the proposed senior capstone design project is that it will be guided jointly by Florida Tech faculty and practicing physicians and as well as industry professional supporting the project. The physicians along with the faculty and industry representative will provide presentations of case studies to the students during the junior year. Then during that semester, the students will be required to develop proposals and to make presentations that will be evaluated by the participating faculty and physicians. In their senior year, students on multidisciplinary teams will execute the projects under supervision of participating faculty and physicians. In order to better prepare students for the capstone project, a clinical immersion experience is proposed. As part of clinical immersion period during summer at end of the junior year, eight to ten undergraduate students entering their senior year will be invited each year to participate in six or seven weeks program to observe the clinical activities, acquire communication skills necessary to interact with clinicians, and identify needs that can subsequently be addressed in their biomedical design projects. The clinical immersions will be held at organizations such as Orlando VA Medical Center, Brevard Rehabilitation Medicine, HealthSouth Sea Pines Rehabilitation Hospital, NASA Kennedy Space Center, and The Back Center. While this approach may be common in universities with medical schools, such an approach for a university without a medical school is unique and is being proposed for conducting team-based senior year design projects. The goal of the clinical immersion program is to provide opportunity to students to interact with the physicians so as to understand the working principles and any limitations of existing technologies and this in turn will trigger discussions and need to develop new design projects. The students interested in developing the entrepreneurial dreams will be provided an opportunity to take elective courses in Junior and Senior Year offered through Business Incubator Center.Broader Impacts:This development of devices which will aid persons with disabilities will (a) provide a practical engineering experience as well as a personally rewarding experience to the student; this may also encourage them to use their specialized skills in the future to benefit individuals with disabilities; (b) to help individuals with disabilities become more independent by designing and building custom assistive technology devices that address their needs; (c) to facilitate learning and reflection about the daily life of an individual who has a disability, as well as the daily lives of the family members, therapists and educators who are in close contact with them. Students develop their teamwork and communication skills (both oral and written), learn about the product development process used in industry, and are made aware of the unique requirements and constraints of medical device design thereby preparing them for careers in biomedical engineering.