Name ______Date ______Class ______

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING CHALLENGE

The MRI, the pacemaker, artificial joints – biomedical engineers have helped make them the wonders they are today. BMEs, as they're called, work to design, create and improve medical devices such as prosthetics, artificial organs, and bioengineered skin.
One aspect of biomedical engineering is designing and researching new and better prostheses (replacement body parts). In everyday life, many people require replacement body parts. Those who need an artificial limb must have a structurally stable one to replace a critical part of their skeletal system.

Although there are a whole variety of prosthetic hands available, 27% of their users do not use the prosthesis actively and more than 20% do not actually use prostheses at all. There are various reasons for this,such as low user comfort (too heavy, too hot), too few functional advantages and a lack of sensory feedback.Reducing the amount of masshas the highest priority for the user; therefore biomedical engineers are constantly trying to redesign existing prostheses to make them more lightweight.

Biomedical engineering will be one of the fastest growing fieldswith a predicted 62% increase in biomedical engineering jobs by the year 2020. Check out some of these stories and you’ll see that it’s never too soon to start!

Objective:

  • To evaluate the effect of mass on prosthetic hand performance by designing, building and testing two different prosthetic devices.
  • Tofollow the engineering design process by To keep an Engineering Design Challenge keeping a design notebook to document ideas, sketches, research and to journal progress

Design Criteria

Your model prostheses should be lightweight and able to grasp, lift, and release a gum drop. It must be activated by pulling something (cord, string, spring, etc) and it must return to its original position when released.

Part 1 - Research (12/23/15)

  • Research using the library, Internet and books to find out about prostheses; how they work, how they are built and what materials are used for them.
  • Research how the human hand works (muscles, bones, joints etc)
  • Explain what new technologies have been developed in this area.
  • Record your research notes in your EDC notebook and bring your EDC notebook to class to be checked on Wednesday, 12/23/15
    Suggested Sites for Research

This is just a starting point – there is plenty more research available!


Part 2 - Brainstorm & Design (12/23/15 – 1/5/16)

  • Use what you have learned about the functions of the human hand and think about existing devices that can be used to simulate the functions of grasping, lifting, and releasing.
  • Review the design criteria and consider possible materials that could be used to build your hand.
  • Decide on your design; write a list of needed supplies in your EDC notebook.
  • Brainstorm designs for a model. Create detailed sketches of your ideas in your EDCnotebook.
  • Select the design that you think is the best.
  • Decide how you will add additional mass to one prosthetic hand without changing the physical design. For example, use a heavier material.
  • Have your designs approved by your teacher onTuesday, 1/5/16.

Part 3 - Build, Test, Evaluate and Redesign (1/5/16 – 1/18/16)

  • Gather the necessary materials for your prosthesis and begin building your hand.
  • Use your EDC notebook like a diary to record when you work, what you do each time you work and how your prosthesis is progressing.
  • Test it by trying to pick up gum drops. See if your design meets all of the design criteria for the prosthesis.
  • When you test, your design may not work as planned. When engineers solve a problem, their first solution is rarely their best. Instead, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign.
  • Make modifications to your model if needed.
  • Note any design modification in your EDC notebook.

Part 4 – Presentation (1/19/16 – 1/20/16)

  • Bring your EDC notebook to be checked by your teacher on Tuesday, 1/19/16.
  • Prepare a presentation and demonstration for the class of your completed prosthetic hand

Your presentation must include the following:
1. Description of your design process

2. Explanation of how you chose your final design

3. What materials you used

4. Any special features of your model

5. How your model meets the design criteria.

6. Completed EDC notebook.

  • Present your hand by demonstrating how it can grasp, lift and release a gum drop on Wednesday, 1/20/16.

Part 5 –Compete in the ‘Candy Rush’ Challenge (1/21/16)

  • During the ‘Candy Rush Challenge’ you will use your prosthetic had to transfer 10 gum drops from the lab table into the candy dish.
  • You will record and graph the class results to determine whether there is a correlation between functionality (time to transfer 10 gum drops) and mass of prostheses.

Grading Rubric

POINTS / Design Criteria Met / Inventor’s Notebook / Presentation / Performance on Challenge / Meeting
Deadline
4 / Grasps
Lifts
Releases
Cord/String / Detailed and complete / Detailed and complete / Picks up 9-10
gum drops in 5 minutes or less / All 4
deadlines met
3 / 3 of 4 design
criteria met / Missing some detail and/or required components / Missing some detail and/or required components / Picks up 6-8
gum drops in 5 minutes or less / 3 of 4
deadlines met
2 / 2 of 4 design
criteria met / Missing many details and/or required components / Missing many details and/or required components / Picks up 3-5
gum dropsin 5 minutes or less / 2 of 4
deadlines met
1 / 1 of 4 design
criteria met / Missing most of the details and/or required components / Missing most of the details and/or required components / Picks up 1-2
gum dropsin 5 minutes or less / 1 of 4
deadlines met
0 / 0 of 4
design criteria met / No inventor’s notebook submitted / No presentation made / Does not pick up any gum drops in 5 minutes or less / No
deadlines met

GRADING

Total Points ______(out of 20) X 10 = ______Overall Grade
THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL COUNT AS 2 TEST GRADES!