IIT M - Wearable assistive devices for hearing impaired

Thursday, December 2, 2021 EH News Bureau IIT Madras to enhance wearable assistive devices with latest technologies to empower people with hearing & motor impairments Read Article Funded by Sony Pictures Networks India through its CSR initiative, ‘Vibe’ will generate vibration & LED light inputs for pre-identified sounds like Doorbell while ‘iGest’ will recognise gestures & provide audio output through a smartphone, helping people with cerebral palsy to communicate Indian Institute of Technology Madras researchers are enhancing already-developed wearable devices with latest technologies that will assist people with hearing impairment and motor disabilities to communicate independently and enhance their quality of life. These wearable sensors will include latest sensor technologies used in the Internet of Things. Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) is supporting these projects at IIT Madras through its CSR initiatives. The devices are being developed by the Centre for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (CREATE), a multidisciplinary translational research and educational initiative of IIT Madras. It was conceived as the researchers began interacting with NGOs and inclusive schools. CREATE sets out to meet the major social need for indigenous development of low-cost technologies that address the needs of people with different abilities in India. Highlighting the need for indigenous development of assistive devices, Prof. Anil Prabhakar, Head, CREATE-IIT Madras, and Faculty, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “Due to the non-availability of affordable and sustainable assistive devices and systems, the hearing-impaired are excluded from the mainstream and inclusive education. Also, the imported devices cannot be afforded by most people.” Further, Prof. Anil Prabhakar said, “The cost of the product is kept low and to be less than 5000/- Indian rupees so that it is an affordable device for its basic functionality. The advance of technology and the advent and availability of low-cost microcontrollers and sensors allows us to come up with this unique low-cost device.” The two major projects being developed by CREATE are ‘Vibe’ and iGest’ for the hearing impaired and for persons with motor disabilities, respectively. Both devices are embedded systems that will bring the latest developments from IoT and ML to wearable assistive devices. Such wearable devices will have rechargeable batteries and communicate with a mobile phone over Bluetooth. Elaborating on the impact envisaged from these CSR projects, Rajkumar Bidawatka, Company Secretary, Compliance Officer and Head CSR, Sony Pictures Networks India, said, “Inclusivity is an essential aspect of the culture at Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI). We are proud to extend our support to IIT Madras for this project, which is an effort to ensure that the needs of differently-abled communities are addressed in the most convenient, affordable and accessible manner. At SPNI, our aim is to support initiatives that result in a tangible impact to communities who benefit the most from such innovations.” Vibe is a wearable device that vibrates for acoustic sounds around a person with hearing impairment. Vibe features a multitude of sound patterns that are recognized using a microphone and voice recognition modules. Vibe will alert the hearing impaired about a specific sound such as a doorbell, alarm, or a crying child. It will be compact and wearable as a watch. It is a simple way of providing vibration input for the pre-identified surrounding sounds, with each such sound corresponding to a specific vibration and blinking LEDs to alert the user. iGest will function as an alternative and augmentative communication device for persons with cerebral palsy. It will recognize the gestures of those with limited motor skills and convert them into audio output through a smartphone. It aims to address issues of speech impairment and motor impairments faced by persons with cerebral palsy. iGest, which borrows on commercially available fitness sensors, will be designed using an inertial motion unit. For persons with cerebral palsy, movements can be much slower than normal people and also less repetitive. Hence, iGest will be designed around available Edge ML microcontrollers that provide machine learning (ML) capabilities to IoT devices. As per the last census, 20 per cent of the Indian population suffered from a motor disability. Such individuals will frequently go in for occupational therapy. In addition, there are those who require physiotherapy only on occasion (due to a strained muscle, or bad posture). iGest will cater to a large number of such individual cases. In the case of persons with cerebral palsy, limited motor control also manifests itself as a speech impairment and an inability to communicate independently. The overall incidence of cerebral palsy at birth is about 0.3 per cent, but they account for 15-20 per cent of children with a physical disability. Viewed using Just Read Report an error

Some Videos on Assistive Devices for the elderly

The attached pdf lists 15+ videos on assistive devices for the elderly.

You can click and watch whatever you choose to. 

At worst, it will amaze you to find out what is available. It is a learning in itself.

Dr P Vyasamoorthy / 9490804278

Walkers and walking sticks

Walking with Ease: A Guide to Walkers and Walking Sticks

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Description

Mobility aids like walkers and walking sticks are tools that are used by seniors to maintain their balance and stability while they carry out their daily activities. Thus, they grant freedom of movement to seniors, act like a best friend in their hard times, and enable them to live a life of independence! 

Who Needs a Walker? A walker can be used as an active support system by anyone who is suffering from the following:

• Difficulty in bearing the weight of the body due to old age
• Difficulty in maintaining body balance due to conditions like Vertigo
• Shortness of breath due to respiratory or heart diseases
• Rehabilitation following a stroke or hospitalization
• Acute medical conditions like Osteoporosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, or hemiplegia
• Injuries to the leg or thigh
• Postural problems
• Weak upper body strength
• Arthritic pain
• Fear of falling

Walkers for Seniors It is imperative that special attention and care is extended while choosing a walker for a senior. Here are the attributes of an ideal walker or a walking stick for seniors:

• Great handle grip that is sweat resistant
• Durable walker body that can handle the body weight of seniors
• Adjustable height for the legs of the walker/walking stick.
• Tripod at the base of walking sticks to handle excess weight
• Any other attribute that makes it unique to a particular condition

Types of Walkers Depending on the usage and the type of medical condition involved, there is a plethora of types of walkers that can be bought. Check them out:

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Read the rest of the article at:

https://ec.uat.code-alpha.org/community/discussion/5e4126910cf2228d8eb783f7/

Illustrations of different types of walkers, walker selection criteria are given.

Source: Joy of   Age website

Rest in Pee

"Rest in Pee" is a pocket urinal that can be used by travelers, pregnant women, patients of arthritis , back pain, joint pain, paralysis, diabetes, urinary incontinence, physically disabled people, and bedridden or older people. It is world's 1st & only UV sterilized disposable paper urinal. When you need to pee, you can urinate directly inside the bag and it will instantly turn urine into the fragrant gel. It can be used inside the car, sleeper coach bus,train, tents, small office,  changing room or anywhere with little privacy. It is a unisex device. We have designed this device to help people who suffer from urination problems. we feel proud to introduce this unique and life saving device. You can order by visiting our website www.restinpee.com or you can message or call +91-7265000003 for more information. Please share for whom you care .. Thanks🙏

https://youtu.be/Bf1EyJnLf6U

Price is Rs.169
 For pack of three
You can order from  our website www.restinpee.com
 You can even use google pay with this same number. +91 72650 00003

https://youtu.be/Bf1EyJnLf6U

Contributed by: 

V.RAGHAVENDRA RAO,

18/301, Priya Mangla Presidency Apartments,

Mettupalayam Road, Thudiyalur Post,

COIMBATORE-641034.

Medband Watch device

Medband is a watch that wear on your wrist. Seniors living alone may wear this to call for help in emergencies. The SOS button sends a message to a 24/7 call center in Chennai. They respond by arranging an ambulance for you. Your kith and kin are kept informed. The device costs just Rs 5000 directly purchasable from their website flipkart etc. Upon enquiry I learnt that the Medband will work anywhere in India not just in Chennai. See the video for details.

https://youtu.be/0zcaFsHYzmo

"Arise Standing Wheelchair" Description and Video

IIT-Madras launches indigenously designed 'standing wheelchair'

It was designed and developed by TTK Center for Rehabilitation
Research and Device Development (R2D2) at IIT-M, headed by Sujatha
Srinivasan of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. (Photo | EPS)

source NEW INDIAN EXPRESS 06 11 19

CHENNAI: A new affordable 'standing wheelchair' that enables persons
with disabilities to shift between standing and sitting positions
independently, has been indigenously designed by IIT-Madras in
collaboration with Phoenix Medical Systems (PMS).

Called 'Arise,' the standing wheelchair costs Rs 15,000, V Sashi
Kumar, MD, PMS, told Express. Arise comes in four sizes: small,
medium, large and extra-large and can be customised to suit users'
body type by making simple adjustments, he said. The wheelchair was
launched in the presence of Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister for
Social Justice and Empowerment, researchers, students, staff and
faculty of IIT-M besides other stakeholders.

"In the last five years, I have seen a lot of modern technologies, but
have not seen such a good standing wheelchair anywhere. I am very
happy and impressed and I congratulate IIT-M and its partners for
coming up with the wheelchair, which is multipurpose besides being
cost-effective," said Gehlot.

It was designed and developed by TTK Center for Rehabilitation
Research and Device Development (R2D2) at IIT-M, headed by Sujatha
Srinivasan of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Users of
conventional wheelchairs face a host of difficulties. Being seated for
long periods can lead to secondary health problems. Now, the users
can, by themselves, use standing wheelchairs to arise from the seated
position. They will not have mobility in the standing position.

"The feature was not added as we kept safety as a priority. If a user
tried to stand and move on a slope, it may lead to instability," said
Sujatha Srinivasan, adding Arise can be most efficiently used by
people with spinal cord injuries.


https://youtu.be/Jnn343UbnGU

Assistive Devices Market in India

Assisted Devices market in India needs upgradation: Abhit K - ET HealthWorld

Shahid Akhter, editor, ETHealthworld spoke to Abhit K, Co-founder, Social Hardware, Bengaluru to know more about the growth of Assisted Devices market and how it can help people in a big way.

Assisted Devices- trends and market
The assistive device market is growing exponentially and this is basically because of the growing population and employment. Employment leads to ignorance in the construction fields as well as in various industrial fields.

A lot of low income wage workers, who work at the construction sites are not fully skilled and due to that, many casualties or traumatic injuries happen. At the same time, we are seeing a lot of congenital diseases as well such as diabetes, which leads to amputation cases. We've also seen cases of cerebral palsy and various neural issues as well.

The assistive device market is growing specifically in India and also globally. We have 3D printable prosthetics, which is coming in and we also have crutches, highly defined wheelchairs,which people are using now.

All these products are slowly coming into the market to basically meet the needs of the people from different backgrounds of the requirements for the assistive devices and various companies are coming and making products which are affordable, durable and is fulfilling the requirements of people.

Assisted Devices challenges
There are not many localized fabrication of assistive devices in India and a lot of assistive devices are being imported from North American and European market, which generally costs a lot as compared to a locally designed product.

Due to that, the cost effectiveness is not there and it is expensive. People from different backgrounds are not able to afford it.

The second challenge is that the assistive device market in India has been traditionally operating. We are still operating on mechanically induced products, either it's a walking stick or a wheelchair.

These are all concepts, which has been derived previously in the 90s and 2000s era. Therefore, all these concepts needs an upgrade. There are also no manufacturing methods and techniques, which could counter those upgrades and this is one issue, which the assistive device market is specifically facing.

Avocado Wrist Connector ideation and collaboration
As a company, we wanted to have a durable product, which is easy to fit and comfortable to use. We wanted the aspects of durability, affordability and also wanted to democratize the prosthetics and this was the vision to develop Avocado Wrist Connector. It is a small mechanical adapter and mechanical device, which can easily be fit into traditional prosthetics as well as in modern prosthetics, providing an upgrade to a user who has been using both these prosthetics

In terms of mechanical prosthetic hand, it would enable a user to use a product and conserve more energy with the help of any format of tool and can use this Avocado Wrist Connector. The Avocado Wrist Connector would be helping in conserving the battery life of the product, which will enable him to sustain the electric powered prosthetic hand for a longer period of time.

It is not only providing an upgrade feature in terms of usability, but it's also an efficient and a
durable product. At the same time , it is cost effective and lightweight.

The name Avocado came through the inception where we are working with Association of People with Disabilities, who are very much involved in horticultures effects. We have met a lot of patients and amputees, who've been working in these agricultural fields and we wanted to give a texture of agriculture into it and the product, the wrist connector itself looks like an Avocado.

We wanted to make a product, which can be integrated in the existing prosthetic supply chain in India, where the maximum number of products have been manufactured by ALIMCO and they have been producing sockets for a long period of time. We have also partnered with rehabilitation centers across the country in order to make this Avocado Wrist Connector a reality and be used in real life by people across the country.

Similarly, we have Nevedac Prosthetic Center in Chandigarh, which also caters to the huge market in Punjab and Haryana.

We made a prototype of the Avocado Wrist Connector and it's a mass manufacturable prototype, which we made. However, it was weighing around 300 grams, so it was heavy. As per the standards for prosthetics, we wanted to make it more lightweight and wanted to make it below 100 grams.

This is where the idea and the future of generative design came in, where we were able to reduce the mass and material of the design through the generative design.

It is basically an AI based software, which allows you to input various design and load constraint. At the same time, it also provides you design alternatives, so that you can pick one any one of the design alternatives and then using your human and AI collaboration make the final product, which is manufacturable and product fit.

The five stage process of generative design could have taken us months, but using the generative design concept we were able to do everything within less than a week. This not only saves our time but also our cost.

Avocado Wrist Connector - future plans
Currently, we are doing market testing and we are doing the testing with the partnered rehabilitation centers as well, making our product more durable and efficient.

We are presently testing the Avocado Wrist Connector and we will be rolling out it through a partnered rehabilitation centers, who already have a network and branched out network with the district rehabilitation centers.

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Dr P Vyasamoorthy
30 Gruhalakshmi colony Secunderabad 500015
040-27846631 / 09490804278 / +918179386472

Wav! What collaboration! New Google Group of SSS gathered 100 members in less than a fortnight!