Next-Generation Wearable Medical Robot

Next-Generation Wearable Medical Robot Next-Generation Wearable Medical Robot Next-Generation Wearable Medical RobotOne day in the not too distant future, researchers at Harvard University hope their work with soft wearable robots using innovative textiles can offer easy and unobtrusive assistance to individuals with physical disabilities. That same work also offers promise for augmenting the capabilities of healthy individuals, for example, helping soldiers carry heavy loads and walk farther and longer by assisting the muscles in the hips and ankles. In a field only about three years old that evolved from research into soft robots as medical devices, Conor Walsh, assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering at Harvard, and founder of the Harvard Biodesign Lab, leads a multidisciplinary team of about 30 researchers developing soft wearable robots. The furthest along are a soft exosuit that can assist with locomotion and perform small levels of assistance to a wearer ( such as a soldier) and a glove that assists with grasping motions for those with hand impairment.Multi-segment actuators used in the robotic glove enable an assistive range of motions. Image Harvards Wyss Institute Compared to current external rigid structures, the wearers joints are much less constrained. Wearing the devices as clothing also makes them much lighter since they consist primarily of fabric. This minimizes unintentional interference with the bodys natural biomechanics and allows for better interaction, according to Walsh. He was attracted to robotics as a student because it was kind of a cool topic, he says. After earning undergraduate degrees in mechanical and manufacturing engineering from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, then M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined Harvard in 2012. As a grad student, he worked on rigid exoskeleton-like robotic ordnungsprinzips and was even a test subject evaluating them. I realized firsthand just how hard it is to use rigid components to interface with the body, he says. At Harvard, he saw researchers working in a new field called soft robotics. Instead of rigid components for medical devices, they were using soft materials to apply forces to people as they move. That made me think, wow, wouldnt it be cool if we applied these new soft robotic components to wearable robotic applications, he says. Traditional exoskeletons are large systems giving people superhuman power thats what rigid robotics does, says Walsh. Such equipment requires big battery packs. We came up with the idea that maybe there is a whole set of people out there, where if you give them small or moderate levels of assistance, you can still have a big impact.A box containing the battery and motor is a key component of the system. Image Harvards Wyss Institute The system consists of a textile component, an exosuit in different body sizes, made of flexible, lightweight fabrics suc h as nylon or spandex. It serves as an anchor to the body and allows forces to be applied in a safe and comfortable way. Sensors acting as controllers or monitors of the wearers movements are integrated into the suit. The other component, a box the size of a backpack, is the motor and battery that works for all size individuals. The team has shown through testing with the U.S. Army and others that a system that doesnt add much extra mass or many restrictions to natural movement and that gives a boost of energy at the right time can enable healthy individuals to carry heavier loads and walk farther. Its still a research project, but its quite far along in terms of our capability for testing under different types of conditions, Walsh says. The team has also made progress with a soft robotic glove to assist with grasping motions for those with hand impairment, using a different technology, silicon actuators powered by some kind of fluid, water or air. Imagine a balloon-type actuator, Walsh says. Its a little mora complicated than that, but its similar to a balloon. When you pressurize it, it imparts forces on the fingers and causes them to bend in a natural type of motion. These are integrated in a glove for people with conditions such as muscular dystrophy or ALS. We have been testing that on patients from the start and have a nice prototype that we are currently refining to make lighter, Walsh says. The glove is expected to be put into a small trial later this year. Robotic devices for the hand have been particularly challenging because traditional rigid exoskeletons are heavy and hard to align properly to the person, Walsh said. Thats where we saw an advantage to using soft robots that could be more flexible, more lightweight, easier to put on and more easily aligned to the persons anatomy. So far we have had some pretty exciting results. Patients are able to do things that they wouldnt otherwise be able to do, he says. Walsh believes these kinds of devices c ould be available within the next three to five years. The technology opens up new possibilities that wouldnt be possible with rigid robotic components. Its really just starting as a field. Its rewarding because the technology is cool, but the fact that its toward the goal of helping people, that makes it all the more compelling, Walsh says. Nancy S. Giges is an independent writer. Learn about the latest trends in bioengineering at ASMEs Global Congress onNanoEngineering for Medicine and Biology. For Further Discussion The technology opens up new possibilities that wouldnt be possible with rigid robotic components. Its really just starting as a field.Prof. Conor Walsh, Harvard University

Air Force Enlisted Jobs and Qualification Factors

Air Force Enlisted Jobs and Qualification FactorsAir Force Enlisted Jobs and Qualification Factors

Public or Municipal Finance Careers

Public or Municipal Finance CareersPublic or Municipal Finance CareersPublic finance (also known as municipal finance) has two main definitions. The first is financial management for governments and government entities. These can include towns, cities, counties,and states, as well as the public authorities that manage such entities as (when they are publicly owned in the sense of being controlled by government rather than by private owners), for example School districtsTurnpikes and other toll roadsBridges and tunnelsAirportsPublic transit systems, such as rail, bus, subway and ferry linesMunicipal water systemsSewer systemsGarbage and waste pickupPublicly owned electric utilitiesPublicly owned stadiums, arenas, racetracks and sporting facilitiesParks and recreation areas The second is the branch of investment banking and securities underwriting that specializes in raising funds for governments and public authorities through the structuring and marketing of bond issues. Government al Financial Management The aspect of public finance that encompasses financial management with governmental bodies, agencies, and authorities calls for people with expertise as, for example AccountantsControllersTreasurersRisk managers In funding government operations, financial managers in the employ of government bodies often must work with elected officials to set policies and legislation regarding various funding sources, most notably TaxesUser fees and tollsFinesBorrowing Gamesmanship in Public Finance An old, familiar feature of budget exercises within governmental bodies is the use of the Washington Monument Ploy to protect headcount and spendingwhile wearing down public opposition to increases in tax rates, user fees and/or tolls.while wearing down public opposition to increases in tax rates, user fees and/or tolls. Municipal Consolidation and Mergers In a number of states, the proliferation of layers of government and/or small entities at each level often is blame d for rapidly increasing costs of government that far exceed the generalized rate of inflation for goods and services in the private sector. A popular proposed remedy is to consolidate or merge small towns and school districts, among other public bodies, to eliminate redundant administrative overhead and empty building space, thereby decreasing costs. Similarly, there are moves afoot for small towns and other jurisdictions lacking scale to outsource or share services, such as garbage pickup, road maintenance,and snow plowing, to spread the capital cost of expensive vehicles and equipment that often sit idle. Moreover, neighboring towns may seek to share police, fire and rescue services in a similar cost reducing attempt. Recent research, however, indicates that municipal mergers and consolidations not only may fail to meet expectations as strategies for cost savingsbut may even have the opposite of their intended effects. See When Civic Mergers Dont Save Money, The Wall Street Jour nal, August 29, 2011. They conclude that a group of several small governments can end up costing less, collectively, than a single larger government combining all their functions for these principal reasons Small governments tend to employ fewer highly paid professionals such as lawyers.Small governments tend to have lower pay scales and benefits (like health insurance and pensions) for comparable positions.Small governments usually have mora positions filled by low wage part timers. Another aspect of small governments not mentioned in the article is that they are more likely than larger jurisdictions to depend on unpaid volunteers to deliver key services, such as firefighting and ambulance, rescue, or EMS squads. Moreover, the researchers quoted in the article find that, when governments merge, the pay and benefit packages for the retained staff tends to rise to the level offered by the highest paying government prior to the consolidation. Additionally, the harmonization of staff a nd services also tends to result in increased services (and thus greater costs) for residents of the areas with the lowest level of services beforehand. In the end, the savings produced through reduction of duplicative managers, administrators and equipment is more than offset by increased compensation for the vast majority of workers. The Illinois Cost of Government Study A study of public finance in the state of Illinois shows that, compared to average salaries in the townships, county employees earn 35% more, municipal employees get 46% more and state employees receive 49% more. Townships have 77% of their positions filled by part-timers, as opposed to 25% in municipalities, a mere 9% in counties and 31% in the state government. Not surprisingly, then, total spending in the townships rose by only 17% from 1992 to 2007, versus 50% in municipalities, 66% in counties and 51% in the state government. Another factor is that the townships usually have significantly fewer employees per resident than other layers of government. As in other states, costs in Illinois school districts are rising very fast, up 74% in the 1992 to 2007 period. Average school district salaries are 25% higher than township salaries, and 23% of their headcount is part time. Innovations Among the recent innovations in public finance are social impact bonds, which are being used to fund cutting edge programs, but which transfer the risk of failure from taxpayers to private investors.