Hemiparesis, a significant weakening or lack of sensory and motor function in one side of the body, occurs in 8 out of every 10 stroke survivors. With nearly 658,000 stroke survivors, more than 500,000 patients each year experience the onset of hand paralysis or weakness. In addition to strokes, other leading causes of hemiparesis are brain injuries, brachial plexus injuries, tumor formation, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.
The DextraGrip™ is a revolutionary rehabilitation tool for patients suffering from brain or stroke-related hand paralysis via hemiparesis. This medical device supplies external synchronous mobilization of the fingers via a motorized external grip force production system to promote grip/grasp functionality, pinching, and holding. It functions with dual modes;hand opening and closing or maintaining a neutral intrinsic plus positioning. The motor control is regulated by EMG technology, allowing for near-natural motor control. The DextraGrip™️ has integrated sensory feedback systems that create an immersive and tactile experience for its users as they embark on the road to rehabilitation.
The population ideal for The DextraGrip™ is brain injury and stroke-related upper limb hemiparesis patients aged 25 to end-of-life who are 2 weeks to 6 months post-injury undergoing in-patient PT/OT treatment. With roughly 500,000 stroke survivors each year who will experience hand paralysis or weakness, there is a significant market opportunity for a medical device like this. DextraGrip™️ gives patients back their autonomy and independence through their rehabilitation journey.
Grace is a senior studying Biomedical Engineering with minors in math and Spanish. This past summer, Grace interned as a Quality Engineer at Medtronic, where she gained project management and leadership experience. Grace worked during her senior year as a Resident Advisor and as a teaching assistant for two biomedical engineering classes. Currently, Grace is a semi-finalist, awaiting a final decision, for the Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Spain for year. Upon returning from the Fulbright, Grace plans to pursue a career as a clinical specialist.
Ryan is a senior Biomedical Engineer at Saint Louis University. This past summer, he served as a Process Validation Engineer Intern at ThermoFisher Scientific. Within this experience, Ryan designed business tools and databases that streamlined the process validation process in a biopharmaceutical space. Ryan actively participates in regenerative tissue engineering research in Dr. Koyal Garg's lab at Saint Louis University. Ryan also serves as lead research engineer within the physical therapy department at SLU designing an educational tool for PT students.
Ryan plans to pursue a career in rehabilitation engineering R&D and eventually a PhD in sports/injury biomechanics.
Angela is a senior studying Biomedical Engineering at Saint Louis University. Angela is a motivated, hardworking individual passionate about healthcare, particularly medical devices. For the past two summers, Angela interned at Cardinal Health as a member of the compression systems team. She conducted independent qualitative and quantitative competitive analyses, assisted with testing and protocol dry runs, and constructed prototypes. Her competitive analyses continually inform marketing and development efforts, and one of her electrical test reports was included in a design history file.
Angela looks forward to the challenging hardware and software elements of this project. She is excited to combine her interests in electrical engineering and robotics and her desire to work in medical device R&D.
Abby is a senior studying biomedical engineering at Saint Louis University. This past summer, Abby interned at the Center for Craniofacial Regeneration at the University of Pittsburgh as a research assistant, where she gained experience in cell culture, scaffold fabrication, and assisted in mechanical analysis protocols. Additionally, Abby had the opportunity to work as an undergraduate research intern in the Rehabilitation and Neural Engineering Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, where she assisted in data analysis on neural acquisition data for various spinal cord stimulation protocols.
Abby plans to pursue a career in healthcare engineering and eventually a Master's in Prosthetics and Orthotics.