Engineering a Better Quality of Life

What do a mechanical engineer, biologist, orthopedic surgeon and an industrial designer have in common? At Nemours/A. I. duPont Hospital for Children, they collaborate on work being conducted in PERL, the Pediatric Engineering Research Laboratory, headed by Tariq Rahman, PhD. PERL has a staff of biomedical engineers and students who work with various clinicians at Nemours to conceive and develop engineering solutions to medical problems. The assistive and therapeutic devices that this diverse group of professionals develops change the lives of children with neuromuscular difficulties and orthopedic disorders.

For example, the patented Wilmington Robotic Exoskeleton (WREX) device, which PERL developed, enables children with muscular dystrophy or arthrogryposis (both conditions with symptoms of weakness in the arms) to do the simplest of tasks that most children take for granted. Now, raising their hands in school, eating a spoonful of pudding or scratching their ears is possible. When the device is worn, the child’s limited power is amplified to enhance movement of the arm.

One might imagine that this anti-gravity robotic device is powered by a battery pack or other source of energy, but in fact it’s the combination of rubber bands, hinges, metal bars and unique engineering that adds the power to the child’s arms. Experiencing its effects is surely analogous with what the astronauts must feel in space: one’s arm is as light as a feather and floats up into the air.

“The challenge,” according to Dr. Rahman, “is how to interface the device with the child in a natural way. Then, the key becomes how to communicate intent, through sensors, to the device.” Children with muscular dystrophy or arthrogryposis do not have many options available to assist them with activities of daily living, but the WREX device frees them from some of the limitations of their conditions.

Fulfilling Nemours vision of freedom from disabling conditions, PERL is at the forefront of applying engineering to medical conditions, one device at a time.