BME Students Bring People-First Engineering to Life
The 450 Design Course is organized around a capstone team project.
Students in BME Design Course 450 for Winter 2024 had the opportunity to parlay their classroom learning directly into a project that yielded immediate results for improving the quality of life for an individual.
Through a series of unique circumstances, the students connected with a Nebraska family who is caring for a relative with muscular dystrophy and designed a travel brace for her.
DeAndre Jamison, BME Laboratory/ Classroom Services Manager, has known the Kenworthy family for more than 15 years. Mallory LeSage, now in her 20s, was diagnosed in middle school with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a disease that affects nervous-system function.
“As the primary caregiver, her mother, LeaAnn, faces many challenges and presented a few of those to Dr. Lizzy Mays’ BME 450 student project teams,” Jamison said. “A fierce advocate for Mallory, LeaAnn is insistent upon providing her the highest quality of life possible. When the project proposal came to me, I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity for the students to really help someone.”
The 450 Design Course is organized around a capstone team project, where Kathryn Ackerman, Dane Barnes, Mina Dizdarevic, Rachel Goodin, Madeline Gustafson, Maanav Kapur, and Lucas Ponsock. the initial lecture was a project fair that showcased programs led by U-M research groups, professors, doctors and scientists. “This project stood out to me because it was the only one that worked directly with a family,” said student Mina Dizdarevic. “This personalized approach is what stood out to the group because it was able to offer a tangible solution to make a direct, meaningful impact.”
“In BME 450, each of the groups was randomly assigned, and one of the first weeks we were presented with multiple projects to select from. The project that stood out to our group the most was the Kenworthy’s project,” said another team member, Dane Barnes. “We were asked to rank which project each of the group participants wanted, and unanimously, we all ranked the Kenworthy’s as our top choice. Maanav (Kapur) wrote a note to Dr. Mays, specifically asking for this project because his brother also has a form of muscular dystrophy. We all felt that as well as having a personal interest, it would be rewarding to work with a family, rather than have to give our IP to a company afterward to try to make a difference.”
Dr. Mays noted that she assembles teams and assigns projects based on many factors and does not encourage students to lobby to work on a selected project. However, she said that this particular group had the right qualifications and experiences to position them for success.
“They could tell that we were going to make the greatest impact because the goal was to produce something tangible to hand to somebody that could change their life,” Dr. Mays added. “It was just a great attitude that this team started with. I was excited for the project because I feel like being on the ground doing something in which you know you are having a personal impact is really a fundamental motivator for biomedical engineering.“ The BME students comprising the group that worked on this project were Kathryn Ackerman, Dane Barnes, Mina Dizdarevic, Rachel Goodin, Madeline Gustafson, Maanav Kapur, and Lucas Ponsock.
After the students communicated with Mallory’s family to learn their needs and then subsequently researched options, the team focused on the requirements that a device for traveling would have to provide for Mallory. The group targeted the following considerations and ranked these as the most significant out of more than 100 identified in the group’s initial brainstorming session:
• Stability – to be able to provide upper body stabilization
• Travel – the device would be used for travel, so it must follow the safety rules and guidelines for occupants in cars
• Comfort – the device needed to be stiff enough to keep the user upright, yet soft enough to ensure it would not hurt the user and would be comfortable
• Safety for user and care providers- the team had to consider the loading experience for the device in normal and extreme conditions, accounting for weather, space and time, among other factors
• Functionality – the device accommodates to one user and device is tailored to them
• Durability – the device needed to withstand force from the client when the device is in use
• Adjustability – ease of usability for various tolerances: clothing, weight gain/loss, manufacturing mishaps, differing vehicles, such as public transportation or the family car
Once the team focused on the device’s goals in meeting Mallory’s needs, the members set about navigating the challenges to bring their concept from imagination to reality.
Through email correspondence and multiple Zoom interviews, the team obtained all of Mallory’s measurements in such a short period of time, but I am overall extremely proud of our final product.” from her family and had the chance to interact with them.
“We let the team do a more personalized approach because this is a specific device for Mallory, but maybe in future long-term goals for the product concept, this device could be adapted to fit a wide range of people,” Dr. Mays said. “We used the entire semester to curate the final product, which involved multiple ideas, and it took some time to deliberate on one since all the ideas were different from one another, yet solved very similar problems,” Dizdarevic said. “Additionally, we had to consider the different types of foams used for the device, since the device needed to adhere to structural integrity, along with comfort. We had some issues with the sewing machine, which caused it to be shut down for repair towards the end of the semester, but luckily DeAndre was quick to fix it. Shoutout to DeAndre!”
Barnes added that other adaptations were required as minor issues popped up during the design and production processes. “We had to pivot because of a few unexpected challenges, in addition to the sewing machine, such as sizing issues for the laser cutter when making our template, and an issue with incorporating the polyester skeleton when the design was scaled down for Mallory,” he said.
“But everyone on our project team was so motivated and dedicated to making our device the best that it could be, which made getting things done much easier,” said Rachel Goodin. “The biggest challenge for me was being able to finish this large and complex project.
Dr. Mays noted that the project team did not envision the brace as a safety feature in the vehicle, but as a device to be used in addition to a seat belt. Mallory’s family continues to adhere to all vehicle and passenger regulations for her safety, but wanted to use this brace as a supplement to regular safety equipment.
With the goal of adhering to the requirements of a formal research-and-development process, the students conducted verification and validation testing, as if the brace were a true safety device, to ascertain it would be strong enough to withstand varying situations in a vehicle, such as a sudden stop. Under such a circumstance, this brace could help bolster Mallory and keep her properly positioned within the seat belt, helping her to stay more comfortable than if the device were not present.
Team member Goodin added that having a chance to interact with Mallory’s family via electronic meetings helped the team closely focus on her needs throughout the entire process. They accounted for Mallory’s comfort, in addition to the product’s performance requirements. “It was very important to us that the device not only be stable and functional, but also soft on the skin and soft to lean into during long car rides,” Goodin added.
“As a design instructor, I was pleased when I viewed the final device because of the simplicity of the design aesthetic,” Dr. Mays said. “Something like this should have been made years ago. Why is it taking a college design team to develop this? But I think that demonstrates just how good of a job the students did. The device looks like what it was manufactured to be–a professional quality product for a real person.
The fact that the student design team had the opportunity to present Mallory and her family with the bespoke device in its final form was a bonus event that the group will carry with them into their professional lives.
“Meeting Mallory and her family was an experience that I will never forget,” Goodin said. “Getting to see firsthand how something that you have created can truly affect and change someone’s life validated for me how important and impactful biomedical engineering can be. I am extremely grateful to have had that personal connection with the people for which we put so much care and hard work into our device.”
Team member Barnes added, “The reason I majored in BME originally was because I was interested in medicine, and wanted to make a difference in the world no matter how small. I felt like this project reminded me why I chose this major and what I was working for. This project was an incredible opportunity, and I would like to thank LeaAnn for the chance she gave our group to meet her and Mallory and allow us to work on this project for them. I’ll never forget the project or the work we did, and I hope that it is working well for them and has at least made a small improvement for both of their lives.”