Nursing - Infant trainer with respiration and pulse
It is very difficult for nursing students to take the pulse and measure breathing rates of new-born (within one half-hour old) babies. Newborns have very rapid and shallow breaths and pulses. Project: design, implement and demonstrate a newborn "simulator" that would move and breathe and have measureable pulses at common locations, both of which can be controlled via a wireless interface to a computer for monitoring and evaluation purposes. In addition, changes in skin color with different combinations of respiration and pulse rates is desireable.
Nursing - Positioning patients on hospital beds
Nurses are constantly positioning patients in beds, putting themselves at risk for back injury. In addition, bed-ridden patients are at risk for ulcers and bed sores if they are not repositioned often and according to specific protocols. Project: Develop a bed system that would reposition a patient on a hospital bed, both manually and automatically according to a specified schedule. There is more interest and potential marketability if the system can retrofit existing hospital beds.
Nursing - Multisensory Stimulation Environment
Research shows that cognitively impaired older adults can be calmed by stimulating their senses. Project: Develop a device/environment that is capable of stimulating all senses autonomously. The device should be able to stimulate all senses including smelling and tasting. The device should be customizable and should allow for controlling volume, images projected, intensity of breeze applied and others.
Nursing - Health Risk Assessment Kiosk
Project: Develop a kiosk that would provide anonymous personalized health risk assessment. The station would measure weight, height, pulse rate and blood pressure. The user would also enter lifestyle information. The kiosk then would give a printed out report of the assessment. The kiosk would also be able to dispense a pedometer to encourage walking. In addition the kiosk should be able to measure lung air flow per second. The kiosk should have the capability of reporting the information remotely if needed. The kiosk should be designed for school-age users.
Nursing - Oral Health Care
Nurses are required to provide oral care for the elderly. Educational systems that simulate the elder person's mouth and monitor the effectiveness of the care provided are needed for nursing students to practice the procedure. Oral care is a psychomotor skill and thus requires that nurses learn facts about where to brush and clean. Project: Develop a simulator of an elder person's mouth with tooth surfaces, gums, and painful sensations is needed to facilitate the teaching of oral care to nurses. Features required: teeth that can change color, gums, lips, tongue, measurement of coverage, pressure sensing and mouth/head actuation.
Nursing - Muscular Rigidity Measuring Device
Patients on anti-psychotics can develop permanent side effects. Nurses test the patient's response by holding their elbow and turning their wrist, feeling for muscular rigidity. Project: Develop a robotic device that would measure muscular rigidity in patients. This device would rotate a person's wrist and measure for resistance as it turns. The device should be accurate and sensitive enough to recognize the rigidity before a nurse would have.
Theater special effects
The Music Theater and Dance department is looking for help in developing modular systems for special effects and make-up. These systems must be multidisciplinary systems, that is, involve mechanical, computer and electrical engineering components, probably through the use of wireless control. Design students would be working along with MTD students to develop these systems.
Other project ideas. The following multidisciplinary project ideas were submitted by students in previous semesters.