Stony Brook University Mechanical Engineering Professor Invents Portable
  Mobility Assistant Device
From: Stony Brook NewsWise - 03/29/2013

Five years ago, Anurag Purwar, a Research Associate Professor in the
Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stony Brook University, received a
request to fashion a medical device to help the mobility of a friend and
retired physician suffering from the debilitating effects of post-polio
syndrome. The physician had a walker, but unless another person was around to
help, he couldn’t raise himself out of a chair to use it.

After conducting some preliminary research, Professor Purwar was surprised to
learn that there were no devices on the market that fit those with this
particular need. “Today, in the United States, there are more than two
million people over the age of 64 who find it difficult to rise from a chair
without assistance,” said Professor Purwar. “Biomechanically, sitting and
standing involve complex movements that require muscle strength greater than
other activities of daily life.”

Utilizing his machine design background, Professor Purwar came up with a
solution with the help of his student Thomas Galeotafiore and others - a
portable, compact, multifunctional mobility assist device that helps a person
with standing, sitting and walking independently with support only from the
device. The device, resembling a walker but with support bars, a pelvic
harness and novel linkage controlled by the user with a remote, is designed
to mimic the natural standing motion of a human body. "The most obvious
advantage of the device is that it gives the opportunity for more
independence," said Purwar. “It can also help protect patients and caregivers
from accidental falls and back injuries.”

Read the entire article at:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/sbu-mechanical-engineering-professor-invents-portable-mobility-assistant-device

Links:
Anurag Purwar
http://cadcam.eng.sunysb.edu/~purwar/
http://me.eng.sunysb.edu/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103%3Aanurag-purwar&catid=45&Itemid=169

Assistive Lifting Device
http://me.eng.sunysb.edu/~senior-design/Projects%202012/Assistive%20Lifting%20Device.htm

Mobility Assistance Device Targets Eased Standing, Sitting, and Walking 
http://www.rehabpub.com/news2/18747-mobility-assistance-device-targets-eased-standing-sitting-and-walking/

Submitted by Drew Nelson