Mechatronics Propels New Medtech Designs in Prosthesis, Surgery, and Mobility
From: Design News - 08/10/2015
By: Elizabeth Montalbano

Lifelike prostheses, better non-invasive surgery tools, and a more nimble
wheelchair are just a few examples of which the multidisciplinary field of
mechatronics is helping medical device makers make life better for patients.

New Era of Prosthesis

Mechatronics lends itself well to this field because of the complexity of
designing prostheses that can make sophisticated movements, said Courtney
Medynski, product development manager at Steeper, a company in Leeds,
England, producing bionic hands. The company's latest innovation is
"bebionic," a prosthetic hand that it says offers unprecedented movement and
is now being used in the UK.

DEKA Innovative Solutions Corp., the New Hampshire-based firm led by Dean
Kamen, best known for his invention of the Segway, also developed a
next-generation prosthetic limb that can move very similar to its normal
human counterpart.

A "Step Up" in Mobility

"Step-up" can be attached to motorized wheelchairs and allows them to go over
obstacles as high as 20 cm (about eight inches), said Dvir Brand, vice
president of engineering at Ziv-Av Engineering, the company that developed
the product. It’s comprised of two pairs of telescopic arcs, each of which is
powered using electrical motors. The device can deploy or retract, causing
the chair to elevate and descend, respectively, he said.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=278374

Links:
Steeper
http://rslsteeper.com

Ziv-Av Engineering
http://www.zivaveng.com

Related:
DARPA Backs Further Development of DEKA's 'Luke Arm'
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?doc_id=278064

Mechatronics Delivers Greater Mobility for Paraplegic Patients
http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1386&doc_id=277782