Most translators are language specialists. They change ancient Greek into English, or English into Mandarin, or speech into American Sign Language. Emily Hromi and Erika Woodrum are translators, too, but of a very different kind: They are artists who change complex and vitally important medical information into imagery that the average person can easily understand.…
Prosthetic arms are getting ever more sophisticated. Now they just need a sense of touch. The Modular Prosthetic Limb will help patients to feel and manipulate objects just as they would with a native hand. Sitting motionless in her wheelchair, paralyzed from the neck down by a stroke, Cathy Hutchinson seems to take no notice…
CWRU Study of BrainGate Could Help Paralyzed Patients Regain Movement A group of engineers at Case Western Reserve University, whose goal is to help people with paralysis regain the use of their limbs, is launching a clinical trial to study a system that will measure how these people’s brains communicate movement. The system,…
Case Western Reserve University’s undergraduate biomedical engineering program jumped to eighth nationally in U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 college rankings, up from 13th last year. The rise coincides with the enrollment of the program’s largest first-year class in history—estimated to be more than double the size of recent classes. The first-year class across the university…
One of the first patients to receive implanted muscle stimulation technology developed at the Cleveland FES (Functional Electrical Simulation) Center will represent the United States in sailing this weekend at the 2012 Paralympic Games. Jennifer French, a native of North Royalton, is among six U.S. athletes who begin racing Sept. 1 on the south coast…
Six years ago, a spinal cord injury suffered in a motorcycle crash left Scott Fessler without use of his arms or legs. An innovative neuroprosthetic device, however, has helped him regain control in his hand. “It’s monumental to be able to just pick up your own fork and eat by yourself, to hold your own…
Bob Veillette was alert. A thick ribbon of gauze coiled around his shaved head. Underneath the bandages lay the teapot-like spout that researchers hope would be the channel that would capture Veillette’s neural signals and allow him to move a cursor across a computer screen just by imagining it. As Veillette, former managing editor of…
Financial planner Scott Fessler was a highly energetic, athletic young father when, at the age of 33, he was in a near-fatal motorcycle crash. Scott suffered fractures to his cervical vertebrae, resulting in paralysis from the neck down. Immediately after the July 2006 accident, Scott underwent spinal surgery to fuse his C4-C6 vertebrae. He suffers…
Buckeye Wellness Center Crucial Fitness Resource for People with Spinal Cord Injuries VALLEY VIEW, Ohio — Exercise bikes, an unweighted treadmill, a seated stepper and other workout machines fill the newly carpeted room at Buckeye Wellness Center in Valley View. But this is far from a typical fitness center. Owner Christopher Wynn designed the gym…
Scott Fessler didn’t let a 2006 motorcycle accident and C5 injury stop him from getting back to his career as a financial planner, but he needed a little extra help getting his right hand back to work. He finally got that help last June when he received FES implants at the Cleveland FES Center. The…