麻豆AV

Client

Contact

fady.rayes [at] pegamedical.com (Fady Rayes)听补苍诲 jeremy [at] pegamedical.com (Jeremy Tanguay)

Project

Targeting of Nail for the purpose of inter-locking with a pin or screw has for a long time been a problem for the orthopedic industry. Targeting guides do exist but are very expensive to manufacture and have a low level of reliability/effectiveness due to their sensitivity.

Surgeons often rely on a freehand method where the position of the screw hole in a nail is identified intra-operatively via c-arming and the hole is prepared without the any guidance (hence the terminology freehand).

The objective of this project is to develop a radiolucent targeting sleeve that will assist surgeons when performing freehand targeting. This instrument system must be compatible with all 3 of Pega Medical鈥檚 (FD, GAP, SLIM) Nail Systems.

For an idea of some of Pega Medical鈥檚 current products, please .

Client

Contact

sgualt [at] yahoo.com (Sandra Gualtieri)听补苍诲聽alexvit [at] cim.mcgill.ca (Prof. Alexei Morozov)

Objective

Seats on mobility devices like wheelchairs are often custom designed according to the user鈥檚 unique needs and posture. Many people with disabilities who travel on airplanes constantly have to be held upright, which is neither ideal for the person with the disability nor their accompaniment. In addition, some people鈥檚 disability positions their body in certain postures that are uncomfortable in standard seating. Therefore traveling on an aircraft is uncomfortable, oftentimes unbearable, and even avoided.

Project

The intention of this project is to design a universal seat which can be used on all aircrafts to ensure people with disabilities can be seated comfortably. This could entail a material of some kind that would take the shape of a person鈥檚 unique seat of the mobility device, or an adjustable mechanical system can be built in. Then the seat could be put onto the aircraft seat where the passenger can sit more comfortably.

Criteria for the project are the following:

• Must be able to withstand turbulence.
• Cannot be bulky because the airline seat is already too small and narrow.
• It has to be easy to clean, durable and does not quickly degrade.
• It has to be flame retardant.
• It has to be secure.
• The cost has to be relatively feasible given the fact that airlines are corporations who are concerned about their bottom line.
• It has to eventually pass the safety regulations of the Canadian Aviation Regulations.
• Make sure that the seats can endure G forces.
• Seat must be able to withstand emergency landings and so on.
• Seat must also form to aircraft seat, for protection in case of emergencies. The aircraft seat is designed to absorb a certain amount of shock.
• Normally, an aircraft seat belt should be used with the designed seat. However, the latter should also have an option to add extra belts for the below waist, as well as for the upper part of the body.

Client

mark.driscoll [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Mark Driscoll)

Project

The spine is one of the major components of the human body which plays a role in the human stability and dexterity. To better understand and examine the problems associated with it such as Lower back pain which is reported to affect around eighty percent of the population, a biomimetic model of the human spine and surrounding tissues is being developed. However, the current design has room for improvement in some areas. The following objectives briefly describe the intended modifications to be accomplished in the project which has a focus on creating and integrating reliable soft tissue analogues.

1. Design and fabrication of vertebral discs with a provision for sensor integration: Vertebral discs in the current design are very stiff and does not mimic the reality and does not have provisions to measure the Intradiscal pressure. So, by studying the mechanical properties of the vertebral discs, a biomimetic prototype is to be designed and fabricated which has provisions for inbuilt sensors for pressure measurement. This needs to be achieved over 17 vertebral levels.
2. Design and fabrication of the thoracolumbar fascia (important connective tissues at the back of the spine) having various force sensors. The biomimetic tissue will have to be accurate in its mechanical behavior and geometry.

The project will be concluded with the integration of the above design into the robotic spine model and evaluation of its functionality.

Client

Contact

philippe.gagnon [at] opsens.com (Philippe Gagnon)听补苍诲聽sebastien.lalancette [at] opsens.com (S茅bastien Lalancette)

Project

This is a medical device development project. The goal is to design a device that is able to track the position of a guidewire as it is inserted back and forth inside a catheter. This device must be manufacturable at a low cost.

Objectives

• Evaluate different design approaches
• Design a tracking system based on the best approach
• Manufacture a working tracking system prototype
• Modify a guidewire accordingly (if needed)
• Write the computer software
• Write the embedded tracking system software (if needed)
• Demonstrate the tracking system functioning when linked to a computer

Client

TBA

Contact

natalie.reznikov [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Natalie Reznikov), Department of Bioengineering

Project

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the most peculiar joint in the human body. It is a paired joint in which movement occurs simultaneously, but not necessarily symmetrically, on both sides. The part of the temporal bone with which the mandibular condyle articulates is paper-thin, and it appears transparent when observed against a source of light (on a dry specimen). This suggests that TMJ movement and dysfunction follows the principles of closed kinematic chain operation rather than of a class III lever. However, the most influential element of the closed kinematic chain involving the TMJ is not the mandible (lower jaw), but the hyoid bone. The hyoid bone is connected to the cranial base, the mandible and the shoulder girdle by 16 muscles that belong to 3 distinct functional groups and receive innervation from 3 cranial nerves (see first schematic). Thus, the hyoid bone is the 鈥減uppeteer鈥� of the craniofacial biomechanics. It is involved not only in the normal functions of the craniofacial complex, but also in parafunctions and pathologies such as TMJ pain, dental attrition, obstructive sleep apnea and snoring, malocclusion, neck pain and fatigue. The hypothesis of this design project is that correction of posture involving reconditioning and relaxation of the hyoid depressors, and also involving protrusion of the mandible, would together abolish the persistent spastic state of all the muscles involved in mandibular movement and restore their appropriate iterative contractile ability, while also unloading the TMJ and dentition.

Vibration treatment has been traditionally used as a whole body vibration intervention aimed at improving muscular power, and increasing bone metabolism, but it has proven most effective in correcting spastic conditions such as cerebral palsy in children and adults. In the traditional setup, a patient stands on a vibrating platform that is performing sinusoidal oscillations in the vertical direction around the platform鈥檚 horizontal central axis. The frequency of vibration can be between 5 to 50 Hz, the highest frequencies being mostly effective for alleviation of spastic conditions. This design project aims at building a prototype of an oscillating appliance for the head and neck area. The vibrating elements will be resting on the mandibular angle and the upper part of the sternum (chest bone), and the anchorage unit will be resting on the lower neck area. The moving parts thus will be exerting high frequency vibrations on the attachment sites of the muscles that are involved in parafunctional activity. The optimal frequency for the neck application might well need to be significantly higher than the frequency used for the legs and core musculature, perhaps up to 300 Hz. The amplitude of oscillation has to be established. The project will involve 3D design of the rests and onlays, assembly and calibration of the actuator, 3D printing and testing of the appliance components, fitting it to an average human individual (using a mannequin) and assembly of the prototype for a presentation.
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Client

Camp Carowanis, summer camp specialized in Type 1 Diabetes

Contact

ahmad.haidar [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Ahmad Haidar), Department of Biomedical Engineering, Artificial Pancreas Lab

Project

For patients living with diabetes, it is critical that they maintain their glucose levels within an optimal range. For diabetic children attending Camp Carowanis, it is the responsibility of nurses to ensure the children stay within safe blood-sugar levels. In order to make this possible, the nurses need a way to monitor the blood-sugar levels of the children remotely and at all times.

The objective of this project is to develop a transmitter capable of transforming short-wave radio frequency into cellular signal that can attach to the glucose monitors worn by diabetic patients. The device must be small, ideally waterproof, and made in such a way that it will clip onto the glucose sensors worn by the children. The device will use a sim card to transmit directly to the cellular signal, so that the device will function even outside of the range of Wifi.

Client

rosaire.mongrain [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Rosaire Mongrain), Department of Mechanical Engineering, and renzo.cecere [at] mcgill.ca (Dr. Renzo Cecere), Department of Experimental Surgery

Project

The COVID-19 pandemic and its possible subsequent waves has shown obvious needs for ventilation and blood oxygenation. Mechanical ventilation (MV) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are the only viable treatment options for lung failure patients at the end-stage, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In that context, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) devices using micro-hollow fibers technologies (HFM) have the potential to provide the needed support for severe cases. Indeed, ECMO devices combined with blood recirculation have demonstrated their capacity to improve the outcome and save lives. Conventional ECMO are cumbersome and are associated with high mortality. In fact, patients experience progressive muscle deconditioning which further increase morbidity. Ambulation allows to alleviate muscle deconditioning for better respiration and expectoration which requires a compact ECMO design. However, even the most recent generation of ECMO systems are still bulky and cumbersome.

This project is about the development of a compact and easy to use ECMO-system to treat patients for whom mechanical ventilation is insufficient for life support (and to allow for ambulation). The concept is based on the combination of hollow fiber membrane (HFM) technology with a novel hollow axial flow blood pump that was developed by our group to create a axial flow pump-HFM concept. Indeed, the hollow pump has a design that allows for an easy incorporation of standard hollow fiber bundles. This configuration provides for enhanced blood convection and gas mixing which results in improved gas exchanges (O2 and CO2 diffusion). The new technology benefits from prior engineering work that modeled the efficiency of the hollow pump using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), numerical diffusion modeling, prototyping and an efficiency testing loop development.

The project鈥檚 objective is to make the initial design of the pump-HFM concept using the hollow pump and incorporation of available micro-hollow fibers. 3D printing of the concept should allow for testing with the existing testing rig.

Client

rosaire.mongrain [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Rosaire Mongrain), Department of Mechanical Engineering, and reza.farivar [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Reza Farivar), Farivar Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience

Project

The project consists of designing a low-cost yet efficient mechanical ventilator for use in localities where modern conditions of steady reliable electric grid is not available. The ventilator must be compact and must not require electricity. The device should utilize any energy source readily available such as human power, water current, wind, etc. The main challenge is to design the product with high medical standards while maintaining a flexible range of operation to minimize adverse effects of mechanical ventilation. The technology aims at combining Zeolite materials to enhance O2 concentration and exploit the ventilator rotor concept to generate the needed conception. The Capstone project aims at developing further concepts, optimizing and testing the design for the target operating regime (0-40 cmH2O, up to 1000 ml, respiratory rate 4-45 bpm, flow rates 0-100 lpm).

Client

Project

The goal of this project is to design and develop a newer version of a pediatric endotracheal tube holder.

The scope of the project includes the following:

• 3D CAD Design of conceptual work
• 3D printing
• Mechanical testing and validation (including skin adhesion testing)
• CAD Design of injection molds
• Injection molding of first prototypes with biocompatible polymers
• Development of manufacturing processes
• Biocompatible material selection (adhesives, polymers, etc.)
• Cost analysis
• ISO 14971 Risk analysis
• Proper documentation for regulatory filing as a class I device

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Client

jer [at] cim.mcgill.ca (Prof. J. Cooperstock), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shared Reality Lab

Project

Haptic effects are increasingly used in consumer products, whether to deliver notifications of incoming messages, communicate information to deaf-blind individuals through their hands, or enrich video game experiences. To produce these effects, various actuation technologies have been developed, including eccentric rotating mass, linear resonant actuators, and piezoelectric membranes, among others. Despite extensive use of these devices in consumer technologies, there has been surprisingly little in the way of investigation and comparison of their power consumption, and how power relates to the perceived intensity of the stimuli they provide. Complicating matters, such perception is dependent on frequency of the stimuli, the body location where the stimuli are delivered, and the size of the contact area. The objective of this project is to develop a procedure and testbench that allows for such comparisons to be made, carry out a preliminary such test procedure, and publish the results as a valuable resource to the haptics community.

The student(s) should be experienced in mechanical design as relevant to the test platform, and interested in experimental studies to characterize objective and perceptual measures of haptic devices.

Client

jer [at] cim.mcgill.ca (Prof. J. Cooperstock), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shared Reality Lab

Project

How firmly a wearable device, such as a smartwatch, is coupled to the body can change how its haptic effects are perceived and its ability to measure physiological signals. However, researchers and wearable-makers often rely on vague subjective coupling characteristics such as "strapped snugly" or "tight yet comfortable". Achieving consistent strap tightness across body sites and between users can be challenging, since even if strap tension is consistent, differences in limb circumference alter the resulting normal force under the wearable system in potentially unintuitive ways. Furthermore, when users must attach the devices, they may not use the same tightness each day. We have developed a system that aims to assist people in putting wearable devices on their body in a consistent manner.

This project involves the design and implementation of an experiment and its technical framework to conduct a simple characterization of the system's properties, carry out a user study evaluating the practical influence of the system on the user's ability to achieve more consistent skin coupling characteristics and the influence this has on haptic communication and physiological sensing efficacy, and participate in the submission of an academic paper, which will include literature review, writing, and editing activities.

Deliverables include:

• Characterization of the system's properties
• Technical infrastructure for running a user study
• Analysis of results from a user study evaluating the practical influence of the system on the user's ability to achieve more consistent skin coupling characteristics and the influence this has on haptic communication and physiological sensing efficacy
• Publication submission reporting on the characterization of the system's properties and results from the user study

This project is suitable for highly motivated and autonomous students from Mechanical, or Electrical and Computer Engineering. The ideal candidates would be familiar with or have interests in the design and execution of a user study and strong 3D CAD modelling skills.

Client

jer [at] cim.mcgill.ca (Prof. J. Cooperstock), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Shared Reality Lab

Project

Appreciating a sensory illusion often requires you to experience it with your own senses. While this is generally trivial for visual and auditory illusions that can be rendered using commonly available hardware, haptic illusions often require complex mechanical systems. Vincent Hayward's, A brief taxonomy of tactile illusions and demonstrations that can be done in a hardware store, introduced simple and affordable DIY assemblies to make haptic illusions more accessible. However, we argue that the skills and materials required to fabricate the illusions he describes are often non-trivial, thereby depriving the paper's intended audience from experiencing and learning about these haptic illusions. Our research group has already created a set of 3D printed tactile illusions. This project involves the refinement of our existing models to strengthen illusion robustness, and the modelling of new 3D printed illusions drawn from the literature. An evaluation and validation of the robustness of the illusions will be carried out through a user study. The candidate may be asked to participate in the submission of an academic paper, which will include literature review, writing, and editing activities.

Deliverables include:

• Refined existing illusions
• A set of new 3D printed tactile illusions
• Analysis of results from a user study evaluating the robustness of the illusions
• Publication submission reporting on the illusions' 3D models and their evaluation

This project is suitable for a highly motivated and autonomous student from mechanical engineering or a closely related field, interested in haptics and familiar with, or having interests in the design and execution of a user study and with 3D CAD modelling.

Client

mark.driscoll [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Mark Driscoll), Department of Mechanical Engineering

Project

This project seeks to put forth a novel mechanical design of a wearable mechanism that stimulates local targeted muscle to aid in the post workout (performance) healing process. The widespread adoption of percussion massage devices, such as the Theragun, for example has been a surprise. Nevertheless, such adoption is supported by the notion of triggering or stimulating muscles with a set frequency and magnitude of force can be favorable to stimulation an underlying biochemical response towards healing. This project will seek to achieve such specs (values to be determined by team) with an assembly and fixation methods (to also be designed) to enable a targeted application on the paraspinal and leg muscles.

This open-ended design project will give the team the opportunity to use their creativity. The idea is to have a programmable (frequency and force of indentation) and a functioning wearable device at the end. Prof. Driscoll鈥檚 collaborator works with the National Football League (NFL) performance running coaches which will be involved in the discussion of functionality as well. Join this exciting project!

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Client

wissam.shalish [at] mcgill.ca (Dr. Wissam Shalish), Division of Neonatology, Montreal Children's Hospital and robert.kearney [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Robert Kearney), Department of Biomedical Engineering

Project

Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit suffer from frequent apneas - periods when breathing ceases - which may result from the lack of central drive or from obstruction of the airways. It is important to detect apneas and classify their origin. There is at present no reliable, clinically usable way of doing so. We propose to addressed this by building a sensor that would incorporate impedance tomography, to measure chest movements, and an acoustic transducer to measure breath sounds. With appropriate signal processing, the signals from this transducer should provide a means for the continuous, real-time, non-invasive detection of apneas and their classification as either central or obstructive in nature.

Client

, Department of Biomedical Engineering, 麻豆AV

Contact

andrew.tan [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Andrew Tan)听补苍诲聽geunyong.kim [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Geunyong Kim)

Project

Point-of-care diagnostic devices for detecting COVID-19 are vital to accelerating large-scale testing of the infection quickly and at decentralized settings. Despite the ubiquitous need of centrifugation steps in diagnostic protocols, commercially-available centrifuges are expensive, non-portable, electricity-powered, and dependent on laboratory-scale infrastructures. Thus, this constitutes a critical bottleneck in the deployment of modern diagnostic tools in a global health context.

In this project, we aim to develop an ultralow-cost, ratchet-based centrifugal solution assembled using 3D-printed and rapidly-prototyped components, that can be operated in a user-friendly, electricity-free manner to conduct rapid diagnostic tests on microfluidic chips. Further on, integration of the novel centrifugal component with open-source auxiliary elements, including portable heaters and smartphone-based imaging apparatus, will be explored to produce a fully standalone, on-field diagnostic platform. Finally, the device prototype will be applied towards point-of-care quantitative detection of COVID-19, either via implementation of isothermal amplification-based nucleic acid assays or microarray-based immunoassays.

Development and implementation of the platform will include (i) design, fabrication, and assembly of a novel, electricity-free centrifugal solution customized towards point-of-care assays, (ii) characterization and optimization of device performance against laboratory standards, and (iii) integration of rapid diagnostic test components including microfluidic chips for performing assays detecting COVID-19-related biomarkers in sample fluids.

Affordable, electricity-free centrifugal solutions will empower the dissemination of point-of-care diagnostics in resource-limited settings, as well as other applications in decentralized biology.

Clients

ahmed.aoude [at] mcgill.ca (Dr. Ahmed Aoude)听补苍诲聽Dr. Robert Turcotte,聽MSK Oncology surgeons at MUHC, and mark.driscoll [at] mcgill.ca (Prof. Mark Driscoll), Department of Mechanical Engineering

Project

Surgical drains are placed after a variety of different surgeries in a variety of different specialties including orthopaedics and general surgery. They are placed to decrease dead space and drain any serosanguineous accumulation in the wound after surgery. These drains are sterile and are placed through the skin attached to a mechanical bulb suction. They are also normally sutured to the skin or attached with sterile bandages. In both these attachment techniques there is risk of surgical site infection as the drain tubing can be a gateway for skin bacteria to enter the surgical site. In addition, suturing the drain is time consuming and still allows the drain tubing to move in and out of the skin possibly increasing infection risk.

In this project we propose to redesign the drain attachment mechanism. This will allow for quick drain installation during surgery and allow for easy removal. This innovation would be transferable to all drains used in the operating rooms.

Another aspect of innovation will be to redesign the succion and fluid collection container to allow patient to be mobile even if large amount of fluid is excreted from their wound.

Dr. Ahmed Aoude is a spine and MSK Oncology surgeon at the MUHC. He is also an electrical and biomedical engineering with medical device development experience. He along with Dr. Turcotte will allow the team to see first hand how drains are used in the operating room and guide the design process.

Client

Contact

bchu [at] agilemv.com (Bobby Chu)

Project

Lung biopsy is used to remove pulmonary tissue in a minimally invasive manner from patients in order to diagnose interstitial lung disease. Current methods for performing this procedure are risky and sub-optimal, and a novel solution is being developed to improve patient safety and ease of use.

The objective of the project is to develop tooling to optimize the fabrication of a key accessory component of the novel lung biopsy device with the following characteristics:

• Provide proper and consistent alignment and positioning of the workpiece for welding
• Allow for proper holding of the workpiece
• Permit fast cycle time
• User-friendly
• Robust, resistant to handling and cyclical loading

Notes

• The team will be working with small, delicate parts.
• The team will not be exposed to biohazardous situations.
• The project is self-contained and well-defined, with no external dependencies.
• Iterative prototyping will be required.