TI’s Innovation Challenge was as competitive as ever this year, attracting 810 participants from 120 different engineering universities from the United States, Canada and Mexico. This contest showcases innovative, interesting, and fun technical projects, many of which are out to solve a real-world problem. Follow along as we highlight the top three projects from this year’s contest.
A team from Rice University really wowed the judges and other participants at the Innovation Challenge this year for their project, a Motion Path Analysis Tool for Cerebral Palsy Patients. Team DeXcellence – Shaurya Agarwal, Sonia Garcia, Allison Garza, Vivas Kumar and Andrew Schober – created this diagnostic tool in collaboration with doctors at Shriners Hospital for Children in Houston.
Cerebral palsy is a congenital disorder that causes physical disabilities in motor development through damage to the motor control centers of the brain and affects over 10,000 infants each year. Vivas and Andrew, who presented the project at the finals showcase in Dallas, explained that current evaluations are typically subjective and difficult to carry out uniformly across patients due to the lack of standardization of motion in the upper extremities.
The diagnostic tool that Team DeXcellence designed tests for smoothness and accuracy of a patient’s movements. A “smart” peg that utilizes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) captures the patient’s motion in 9 axis, as well as captures accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer data. Then, there is a wireless transmission of data via the TI CC2541 from the peg to a host computer. This allows for easy data capture from each patient and will help doctors assess his or her progress during therapy and/or between surgeries.
Watch as the team explains how the device works: (Please visit the site to view this video)
The team used four different TI parts in the design:
This diagnostic tool earned Team DeXcellence second place in the contest and a prize of $7,500 for their work. We can’t wait to see where their project goes from here and how it may one day advance care for thousands of people.