OCTOBER 2008

Quadriplegic builds van business for disabled people

MIAMI — One of Andrew Goodyear's clients, a recent amputee, didn't want to leave the house because of the stress of having to maneuver out of a wheelchair and into a car.

For another customer, the trouble came when she tried to help her husband from his chair into a car, but wasn't strong enough.

These are situations Goodyear understands well.

"Having a van is so important to having a life," said Goodyear, a quadriplegic and the owner of Wheelchair Getaways franchises. "I have so many customers who said, 'I can't go out.' They said it's like letting them out of jail when they have a vehicle that they can get in and out of easily."

An accident at 17 tossed Goodyear from the back of a car, breaking his neck. It paralyzed him from chest down, leaving him with limited use of his arms and no use of his fingers.

"When you're 17, you don't have perspective to understand that life goes on," said Goodyear, now 44.

But Goodyear managed to parlay his injury into business success.

He opened franchises of Wheelchair Getaways, a van-rental company, in southeast Florida and later went into business with Movin' On Mobility to customize vans for people with disabilities.

"When someone says, 'I just got injured; it's my first time with a power chair,' you just feel the sense of relief in their voice when they know somebody else knows what's going on and can really guide them," said Goodyear, of Tequesta, Fla.

It was a trip to South Florida for a wedding in 1988 that started Goodyear thinking about going into the van business. He had graduated from the University of Virginia and was working as a commercial real-estate analyst.

He couldn't find anywhere to rent a van, and calls to medical-supply companies, rehab centers and local chambers of commerce didn't help. Those places did, however, say they'd often get calls with the same requests.

He spoke to a friend about starting a van-rental company in Washington, but soon decided that while he liked the business idea, he didn't care for the cold weather. So he moved to Palm Beach County in 1990.

Meanwhile, his friend had seen a magazine ad for Wheelchair Getaways.

"I said, 'Why reinvent the wheel?' " he recalled. "I ended up being the second franchise."

So he started the business in February 1991, with the rights to Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. In 2004, he expanded to the Fort Myers and Naples area.

Altogether, the company has more than 20 rental vans and three full-time employees.

The company delivers vans to people's homes or drops vans off at the airport.

"The customer service is very specialized," he said. "It's not a situation where you can throw someone the keys and say, 'Your car is in A9.' You have to show them the safety equipment. It takes a significant amount of time to make sure you're comfortable."

It was while trying to grow his rental fleet that Goodyear met Rod Alt in 2003.

Goodyear wanted Alt's company, Movin' On Mobility, to customize a couple of vans. Within a year, Alt would buy out Goodyear's partner in the rental business and Goodyear bought a share in the customization company.

Movin' On Mobility brings in far greater revenue than the rental company.

Revenues for Goodyear's Wheelchair Getaways was nearly $600,000 last year, a number that has been holding steady for the past few years. The Movin' On Mobility locations he has a stake in brought in about $1.6 million last year.

"People can rent before they buy," Alt said. "If you get a new injury, you may just need one for a few months to go to the doctor. When they start to recover, then they might need the vehicle for every day."

Of the partnership, Alt said: "It's probably easier for customers to relate to Andrew. People tend to kind of associate with him because of his disability. They know he can relate to what they're feeling. I'm probably more technical because I've done all the work, but Andrew has lived it, so we're a very good fit."

When people have questions about vans, Goodyear drops by their house to show them his own. He also goes to rehabilitation centers to help market the business.

On a recent morning, Goodyear's van sits parked near two of the company's rental vans, outside the storefront in an industrial park along Interstate 95 in Dania Beach.

Goodyear eases into the driver's seat, using his teeth to help grip the seat belt and push it into place. The hand controls allow him to use his left hand to push down to his waist for gas and forward to brake. He slips his hand into a "tri-pin" to steer.

His elbow hits the Digitone, with different beeps indicating functions: a turn signal, horn, high beams or wipers.

Goodyear would like eventually to sell the business and focus on raising money, even starting a foundation to donate wheelchairs and vans.

For now, he continues to speak about his disability, talking to "the newly injured." He still remembers the people who came to speak to him after his injury.

He takes on the role of guest lecturer at Florida Atlantic University, helping nursing students learn about spinal-cord injuries, taking them to his house to show them how he modified it.

And he coaches 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old boys in the Pop Warner football leagues, trying to help them learn "life lessons," he said. "It's about never giving up and having a winning attitude. There will always be adversity."

Jennifer Lebovich

McClatchy Newspapers

The Seattle Times Company, October 5, 2008

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008228696_rentavan05.html

'Gizmo House' residents helped by technology

But future of home for disabled uncertain as Florida undergoes budget cuts

PLANTATION, Fla. - From the outside, the one-story pink house on the quiet, tree-lined street looks like any other in South Florida's suburbia. But once you go through the glass double doors, it's obvious: This home is different.

Doors and lights work by pressing a touch-screen that looks like a giant remote control. The height of the kitchen table is also controlled by the panel, as are the curtains. There is a rotating shelf system that acts as a pantry.

This is Gizmo House, where six people with multiple developmental disabilities live somewhat independently. Operated by the Ann Storck Center and funded in part by the state and federal governments, residents are now worried about the 10-year-old home's future as Florida undergoes severe budget cuts.

Jim McGuire, the center's executive director, said the deficit this year for Gizmo House and four other homes his group operates will be at least $600,000, and he estimates he will need to find an additional $1.6 million to run the homes for 2008-2009.

He's not sure how that will be made up.

The state's Agency for Persons with Disabilities said all providers are facing cuts.

"They are going to have to make choices and changes, but hopefully they will survive," said Melanie Etters, an ADP spokeswoman.

Gizmo House is the cheapest to maintain of the Storck Center's five homes because its residents have the most self-sufficient skills. But they are assisted around-the-clock by two or three aides.

The technology, by Crestron Electronics Inc., is custom designed and programmed at a cost of $60,000 installed. Touch-screens alone cost $2,000 each.

"There are no two systems that are alike," said Jeff Singer, the Rockleigh, N.J., company's marketing and communications director.

The touch panel sends commands to a central operating system, which can control or automate virtually anything in the home. It allows residents to do more for themselves.

"They don't have to rely on the staff to get their snacks, to open doors," said Stacey Verity, the house manager.

On a recent rainy summer afternoon, Bennie and Lennie Merchant, 41-year-old twins born with cerebral palsy, show off the gadgets.

The brothers have multiple disabilities, but Bennie is able to open his bathroom door by pressing on the touch-screen attached to the lap tray on his wheelchair. In the kitchen, Lennie mixes cake batter with a large metallic spoon while nurse Beverly Prescott holds the bowl. Then he demonstrates how to cook corn on the induction range with Verity's help, even though he says he doesn't like corn.

Bennie turns on the TV to watch the Rachel Ray cooking show by pressing his touch-screen on his wheelchair.

All the residents congregate in the kitchen, sometimes causing a traffic jam of wheelchairs as two others set the table and get ready for dinner.

Through the use of the radio frequency and wireless technology, residents control the TVs by pressing an icon of their favorite channels. Sometimes the ability to turn on the lights may cause confusion, like when one resident shut off the living room lights from her bedroom by accident.

"Unfortunately the technology is still fairly expensive to incorporate. However, it's a perfect product for people with these needs, people who are severely handicapped," said Bruce Wrobel, who helped install the system.

For the phones, Wrobel said he took an audio conferencing system and gave the residents the ability to use a handsfree autodial phone system. They can call their six favorite people by hitting the icon on the phone, which automatically turns on the speaker phone.

"One of the things is maintenance because they can be pretty harsh on the equipment. It's like anything. After you use a car for eight or 10 years, obviously things break and need to be fixed," Wrobel said. "It's certainly not at the end of its service life, but it's getting on in age."

For 44-year-old Linda Cothran, who has been living at Gizmo House since it opened, there's more to lose than gadgets and gizmos if the house is shuttered.

"We're a family," she said.

And no one can replace that.

Lisa Orkin Emmanuel

The Associated Press Oct. 6, 2008

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27052799/

Actors With Disabilities Seek More Roles

“We are virtually invisible,” Robert David Hall, a regular on “CSI,” said at a news conference on Monday announcing a plan to expand media-industry employment of people with disabilities. Mr. Hall, who walks on prosthetics and plays Dr. Al Robbins on “CSI,” said he played one of only three disabled characters in recurring television roles. At briefings in Los Angeles, New York and Washington leaders of the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Actors’ Equity Association said they were planning a broad push to increase physical access to auditions, a major expansion in roles for the disabled and greater employment for disabled journalists. Mr. Hall spoke as the chairman of a tri-union committee of people with disabilities. A presentation estimated that fewer than 2 percent of film and television characters are disabled, while 20 percent of the nation’s population has a disability of some kind.

Michael Cieply

Compiled by Dave Itzkoff

New York Times October 6, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/movies/07arts-ACTORSWITHDI_BRF.html

July 2008

Devices help bring voices to life

With a few keystrokes to a device that looks like a touch-screen computer, Doug Goering, 16, of Indian Hill, “described” one of the things he likes to do.

He touched a button on the machine, which is mounted to his motorized wheelchair.
“I like looking at cool people in the mall,” a computerized voice announced.

On another day, Gregory Nelson, who will be a freshman at Lakota East Freshman School, used his communication device to tell colleagues in the summer program about his vacation plans in New York.

Video: See how computerized devices aid students with cerebral palsy

Goering and Nelson are among roughly 500,000 Americans with cerebral palsy, a lifelong developmental disability that limits their ability to use their muscles, including those that control speech.

They are also among a growing number of people with the disability who use high-tech computer technology to help them communicate.

United Cerebral Palsy’s Aaron W. Perlman Center for Children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center is considered progressive in the assistive technology arena.

It runs the summer writing program that Nelson and Goering are attending this month.

UCP is also the only organization in the region that provides a comprehensive assessment of those with cerebral palsy or similar disabilities, according to its leaders.

Technology is a big part of that.

Companies seek out the nonprofit organization when promoting sample products, so UCP always has the latest and greatest devices to show to clients.

UCP gave two presentations at the Chicago-based National Assistive Technology Industry Association’s February conference, which showcases the best-of-the-best in assistive technology. The annual conference is the largest of its kind in North America.

Locally, clients and their families are glad to have this resource close to home.

“Everyone talks about independence,” said Paul Clawson, of Loveland, whose son Timmy, 11, has used a wheelchair and communications device most of his life. “The chair and the communication devices give them the independence they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

Assistive technology is a broad term that includes wheelchairs, lifts, voice-activated software and everything in between, including communication devices. It’s at least a multimillion-dollar industry and is growing, said Caroline Van Howe, program director for the Assistive Technology Industry Association.

A single communication device can cost up to $10,0000. Insurance companies or government programs often can defray the cost.

The benefit of the devices is enormous, said Van Howe. “It literally gives them a voice,” she said.

Devices range in sophistication depending on the person’s needs.

The students in the Perlman Center’s writing class learned how to use their devices to create their own Web sites. Some of the students have enough dexterity to press keys on a keyboard or computer screen to use their devices.

Others like Nelson operate their devices by head motion. A sensor that resembles a small, round sticker is placed on the forehead so the person can activate the device simply by move moving their heads. to activate the device.

Some communication devices are simply specialized computers. They can include Internet access, mobile phone adaptations and can even be programmed to turn off the television or lights.

Younger children at the center use the devices to say the alphabet or ask for a toy. UCP also runs the Alfred J. Rendigs Memorial Center, where adults take classes and can use communication devices to look for a job or complete college courses.

Joe Weinheimer, 14, can speak talk fairly well on his own so he doesn’t need a communication device. But the Oak Hills student and aspiring writer still took the class, using his laptop to perfect a profile that he will link to his own Web site, http://superjoe-agr.blogspot.com.

“It puts my thoughts on the Internet where everyone sees them,” he said. He has already authored a story which is posted on the site.

Communication devices have opened up a whole new world for those with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, including autism.

As soon as a When child begins using a communication device, “within a few minutes they’re doing something they’ve never done before – drawing a picture, saying the alphabet,” said Melissa Tally, a physical therapist at the Perlman Center. “People will say something meaningful. They just hadn’t ever had the opportunity to say it before.”

By Jessica Brown
jlbrown@enquirer.com

July 27, 2008

May 2008

Glove converts sign language into sound

It knows only 32 words, but someday, it may get a grip on the entire human vocabulary.

It is a sensor-equipped glove, known as HandTalk , that can translate gestures into spoken words on a cell phone. It was developed by students at Carnegie Mellon University as part of a class research project.

Three of the four team members, senior computer engineering students Bhargav Bhat, Hemant Sikaria and Jorge L. Meza , demonstrated the prototype yesterday at Carnegie Mellon's "Meeting of the Minds" expo of undergraduate research projects.

Someday, the young inventors hope, it may allow deaf people to communicate with those who don't know American Sign Language by having their cell phones speak their words aloud.

"That could be a big advantage" for hearing-impaired people, Mr. Bhat said. "It would cut out the need for an interpreter."

For now, the glove uses a primitive language system invented by the student team, which also includes master's student Wesley Jin .

When the glove is held in a fist, for instance, the cell phone says "Good morning." When the index finger, second finger and thumb are extended, it says, "I'm having a good time." And when the index finger, little finger and thumb are held out, it politely says, "Thank you for your time."

Underneath the hood of this system are several relatively inexpensive pieces of technology.

Along each finger and the thumb of the glove are flexor strips, which change their electrical resistance, depending on how much the digits are curled. The positions of the fingers are read by a chip and transmitted wirelessly to a cell phone, which is loaded with a vocabulary that corresponds to the gestures.

The cell phone then types the words as text messages, and an off-the-shelf program translates them into speech.

Mr. Bhat said HandTalk so far has been able to learn 15 of the 26 letters in the American Sign Language alphabet.

To learn the others, though, the team will have to add pressure sensors and accelerometers to the glove to determine when fingers are touching and how much the hand is rotating.

And to fully accommodate ASL, the system will have to use two gloves and measure the relative position of both hands.

On top of that, the team needs to learn how to adjust the gloves to each user, said electrical and computer engineering professor Priya Narasimhan , the team's adviser. One person may make a gesture with their hand at a 45-degree angle, while another may do the same at 60 degrees, she said, " so their biggest technical hurdle in developing this is the calibration."

The team hopes to begin testing the gloves with hearing-impaired people in about three or four months, Mr. Sikaria said.

The HandTalk project is one of several created this year in Dr. Narasimhan's Embedded System Design course, in which teams of four have to develop a product prototype in 15 weeks.

Among the other projects this term is a lighted jump rope that changes colors the faster someone skips and can deliver digital messages on how many calories are being burned, and a cell phone system that allows students sitting "in the nosebleed section" of a hockey game to tap into any video camera feed within the building and see it on their phone screens.

One project from last year's class already has resulted in a local spin-off company, Dr. Narasimhan said. The students developed a bar code reader for blind people that gets product and price information from the Web and reads it back to the shopper.

That project helped spawn HandTalk, she said.

"We started to look at assistive technologies for a wider range of people with disabilities, and one thing was obviously people who were deaf, who communicate with sign language, and it's interesting to be able to support them talking to people who don't know sign language through technology."

The technology itself would lend the gloves to several other uses, the students said. They could be used as game controllers, remote controls and even as a way for doctors to check how much hand function a patient had regained after an injury.

The students even rigged up HandTalk to play a tune by moving the fingers. And the instrument?

The cell phone keypad, of course.

Mark Roth can be reached at mroth@post-gazette.com or at 412-263-1130

Mark Roth, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 08, 2008
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08129/880014-28.stm

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Microsoft Improves Word for the Blind

Microsoft today joined with Sonata Software Ltd. and the Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium to launch an initiative to make Word documents more accessible to blind and print-disabled users.

Created via an open-source project, the new "Save as DAISY XML" add-on for Word 2003, XP, and 2007 makes it possible to save docs as Daisy Standard, the globally accepted method used to publish content for print-disabled users. They can download the add-on at the Open XML Community site.

Daisy Pipeline was also released today. The suite helps users convert Daisy XML files into DAISY Digital Talking Book (DTB), making content even more accessible to users with print disabilities.

"This new 'Save as DAISY XML' functionality for Microsoft Word has the potential to break down barriers for millions of visually impaired individuals around the world and enhance the experience for virtually anyone who loves to read," said Chris Capossela, Microsoft's senior vice president of the Information Worker Product Management Group of the initiative. "We are proud of our collaboration with the DAISY Consortium and Sonata Software to deliver valuable benefits for people with a visual impairment. This tool will make it easier for anyone--from a child writing to his or her grandparent, to a government agency providing vital information to its citizens--to create accessible content."

That the project was created using open-source programming should only serve to help expand the accessibilities of the technologies.

Originally published on AppScout.

Brian Heater
May 7, 2008
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2299079,00.asp

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Computers give students, teachers instant feedback

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- Test time in some classrooms at a Clarksville school looks a bit like a TV game show, with students' answers instantly recorded through handheld devices and then displayed on a screen next to the teacher.

Providence Junior/Senior High School has installed a computerized system called SMART - or self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology - in four classrooms. School officials hope to install more units, which cost about $7,500 per classroom, as more money becomes available.

Teachers can ask questions of students, who then enter their answer into a handheld device similar to a small remote control. The teacher can see how many students got the right answer and determine whether more review on a subject is needed.

"It's a very quick way to gauge the understanding of everybody across the board without that fear of being made fun of" by getting the wrong answer in front of the entire class, said School President Joan M. Hurley.

The technology is an effective way to engage students and is being adopted widely, said Amy Schellenberg, director of curriculum and instruction for the Greater Clark County schools.

The school district is incorporating the SMART system in classrooms as it builds and renovates schools, Schellenberg said, and it will be part of the $99 million high school now under construction.

The system gives immediate information about how each student is performing and can print out personalized study questions for each student who missed a question, said eighth-grade science teacher Ginger Shirley.

Shirley's students seem to be sold on the technology.

"It's a lot more fun," said Mackenzie Elliott, of Charlestown. "Five minutes after a test we all know our grade."

Information from: The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., http://www.courier-journal.com
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IN_CLASSROOM_COMPUTERS_
INOL-?SITE=ININS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=
2008-05-08-01-02-06
May 8, 2008

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Scholarship guru teaches kids the ropes
UW student stresses life experience in applying for aid

Sam Lim collects scholarships like some students amass parking tickets.

When gearing up for college, the University of Washington junior applied for more than 75 scholarships and was awarded nearly 20, from $50 to upwards of $70,000. That has been enough to pay the cost of attending the UW -- and enough to make him into a sort of scholarship guru whose nose for financial aid has made him a hit at local high schools.

Since his own days of filling out scholarship applications, Lim has helped others apply for hundreds more. It started with the creation of a Web site before he arrived at the UW and grew into a partnership with some of the university's mentorship programs.

Over two years, Lim has emerged as the UW's in-house scholarship expert, devoting mornings and afternoons every week to helping potential university students work through college and scholarship applications. He gives talks at high schools, conducts workshops and mentors out-of-state teens via e-mail.

Lim, a soft-spoken 20-year-old who walks with a slight but telling limp, says he's just paying it forward. Ultimately, he wants to show low-income students in high school that they, too, can use their life experiences to help with tuition.

Indeed, the UW's "Scholarshipman" had to overcome much more than winning admission to the UW to move from his family's home in Spokane to Seattle two years ago. He battled a life-altering physical disorder for 10 years, underwent brain surgery and eventually taught himself to walk all over again.

"Scholarships are an investment in your development as a person," Lim said in an interview. "It's an investment from an organization in a person.

"The biggest mistake I see is people forgetting to tell their story," he added.

That's a mistake he's trying to rectify with the students he advises through the UW's Dream Project and Making Connections programs -- both of which provide peer-to-peer mentorship to high schoolers.

On the side, Lim is working to revamp his longtime Web site (scholarshipjunkies.com) into an interactive resource for high school students around the country.

Earlier this week, Lim greeted students near the entry of Ingraham High School's Little Theater. He was wearing the purple "dream team" T-shirt that he and other members of the UW's Dream Project use to distinguish themselves from the high school students. (After all, Lim pointed out, most of them don't look much older than the students they're mentoring.)

Need a pen? He brought a handful. Forgot your workbook? That's fine, but you have to bring snacks for everyone next week. Not sure how you're going to persuade a scholarship committee to choose you over hundreds of other applicants? Don't panic -- he has an answer for that, too.

"Scholarship essays are really personal essays that you have to reflect on," Lim said. "You have to know who you are."

Lim's own scholarship essay started out describing a basketball game he played in while in third grade, a game that ended with a sprained ankle that didn't heal quite right and a limp that became increasingly severe. After several consultations with doctors, he was diagnosed with dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes muscles to involuntarily contract.

As the disorder progressed, Lim had to give up basketball for crutches. "In fifth grade, I was kneeling at my desk -- I couldn't sit," he said.

Then in the sixth grade, he started using a wheelchair.

"As a little kid, I had always wanted to sit in a wheelchair and have someone push me around," Lim wrote in his essay, which chronicled his battle with dystonia. "This time, I could not have wanted anything less."

As the disorder progressed through his teenage years, Lim experienced ups and downs. He recalls having to recline in the wheelchair because sitting was impossible and that someone once mistook his disorder for an act of contortionism.

In his freshmen year, he had a metal pump installed in his abdomen to dispense a muscle relaxant, and that seemed to help. But Lim's life was transformed significantly more the summer before his senior year of high school, when he flew to San Francisco to undergo brain surgery.

A doctor implanted electrodes in his brain and connected those to an electrical implant in his chest. After the surgery, Lim underwent months of physical therapy.

At his high school graduation, Lim walked across the stage to claim his diploma -- a goal he and his father, a Spokane pastor, shared since early in the disorder's onset.

Lim tells the details of his story effortlessly -- something that comes with practice. He intends for the story to persuade high school students to dig deep within themselves and find their own story.

That's what scholarship organizations will ultimately be investing in, he said.

"He's really open about his story, which helps a lot," Fredolyn Millendez, a fellow Dream Project mentor, said as she and Lim prepared to leave Ingraham this week. "That makes students feel comfortable talking about the situations they might be in."

Lim remembers working with one student for hours over the course of days, trying to help make her scholarship essay more personal. Eventually, the girl e-mailed him to say she had rewritten the essay so that it didn't describe only her achievements -- it also described her life growing up without a father.

"I just want to be him -- I challenged myself with him as a guiding light," said Lily Ly, an Ingraham student who met Lim through the Making Connections mentorship program.

"During the springtime, when all the other mentors are like, 'Our jobs are done,' he's still there," Ly said.

With Lim's help, she has landed two scholarships and acceptance letters from seven universities.

Inspired by his pay-it-forward attitude, Ly, 18, has started working as a Dream Project mentor, even though she isn't through high school. That's the kind of ripple effect Lim is hoping for.

"Now that you have the scholarships, pass it on," he said.

SAM LIM'S SCHOLARSHIP TIPS

• Take a step forward by taking a step back (with your scholarship essay). Don't just write about what you've done and how you did it. Go deeper.

• If you can swap essays with someone else's application and there's not a huge difference, it's not personal enough. Read your essay again and ask yourself if it speaks about you and your story.

• Think of a scholarship as a financial investment in your potential to succeed academically, to give back to society and to embody the core values of a scholarship organization. If you approach your applications with this mind set, you'll have an easier time figuring out how to best appeal to your audience.

• Most scholarships consider your track record of community service and leadership more than your grades and test scores. Grades are important, but not as much as what you're doing with your time outside of school.

• Sign up for a FastWeb.com, Scholarships.com or another scholarship Web site account. Check for new scholarship opportunities at least twice a week, and update your profile at least once every three weeks.

• Get started early. Fill out a personal data form and give it to teachers or counselors at least four weeks in advance for letters of recommendation, and make sure to follow up on their progress. Request official or unofficial transcripts in advance if necessary.

• For more of Sam's tips, visit his Web site, scholarshipjunkies.com.

• To find out more about this story, visit the P-I's education blog, blog.seattlepi.com/schoolzone.

P-I reporter Amy Rolph can be reached at 206-448-8223 or amyrolph@seattlepi.com. Read her School Zone blog at blog.seattlepi.com/schoolzone.

AMY ROLPH, P-I REPORTER
May 9, 2008
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/362369_scholarshipman09.html

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FAU portable robot mimics motions of physical therapists

Florida Atlantic University researchers have developed a portable robot they believe can supplement face-to-face contact with a physical therapist, reducing medical costs and making it easier for patients to do exercises at home.

The device, for which FAU has filed a provisional patent, does not resemble most people's idea of a robot - it's no C-3PO - but it uses computerized robotics to mimic motions used in physical therapy for injured patients or those who have suffered a stroke or have cerebral palsy.

The robot was presented last week in Melbourne at the Florida Conference on Recent Advances in Robotics.

"It takes a lot of time for a physical therapist to lead you through a specific motion, and it's very repetitive for the therapist," said FAU mechanical engineering Professor Oren Masory, who worked with graduate student Melissa Morris on the design and construction of the robot. "The idea was to create a machine that could produce those same tedious motions."

The robot works by having a patient hold onto a joystick that sits on top of a glass surface but is attached with a magnet to a computerized pulley system under the glass.

The pulleys take the patient through a series of routine motions that a therapist can program into the computer.

As the patient gets stronger, precise resistance measurements can be added to the pulley system through the computer so the motion will require an increasing amount of muscle. The robot also will track a patient's process and deliver the results electronically to a therapist.

The wood-and-glass prototype for the physical therapy device is primitive compared with what Morris and Masory imagine it can be if picked up by a medical equipment company or investment group for development.

But Masory said even a more advanced model shouldn't cost more than $3,000 to create - a key element in what makes the product marketable.

Current robotic systems for physical therapy are so expensive that most clinics cannot afford them, said Karen McCain, a physical therapist and assistant professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

"No one has figured out how to move the robotics into the clinics where patients can use them, and that's clearly what these folks are interested in," said McCain, a member of the Alexandria, Va.-based American Physical Therapy Association. "You have to applaud them for that."

Masory envisions the robot as something patients can rent and take home, and that can be retrofitted to suit their specific needs. Though the current device is positioned horizontally, it also can be hung on the wall to work different upper-body muscles.

Mechanical engineering students this year will work on a similar physical therapy robot for leg muscles.

One concern McCain has is whether the robot will be able to maintain a patient's interest, which is one of the reasons Nintendo's Wii video games have become popular physical therapy devices.

But she said she has high hopes for FAU's robot.

"I'm a fan of this sort of stuff and would love to see it used clinically, instead of just in research," McCain said.

Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
May 10, 2008
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/south/epaper/
2008/05/10/faurobot0511.html