At the recent Da Nang Youth Union-hosted startup and innovation exhibition, many meaningful products made by young local people have drawn much attention from visitors. Prominent among them are two products with potential applications in the medical field: a utensil device for people with hand tremors and a rehabilitation glove.

Secretary of the Da Nang Youth Union Nguyen Manh Dung (left) visiting and appreciating the pdevice to assist people with hand tremors made by students Bach Ngoc Bich Dao and Vo Van Hoang. Photo: Ngoc Quoc

Glove for stroke patients

With the desire to support stroke patients in early rehabilitation, a group of students from the University of Science and Technology - the University of Da Nang have created a pair of rehabilitation glove. The group members are Le Nhat Chinh and Nguyen Huu Viet from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Nguyen Thi Hien from the Faculty of Chemistry, and Dao Duy Anh from Faculty of Electrical Engineering.

Leader of the group Le Nhat Chinh said that through surveys at local hospitals, many people have strokes, and the disease is on rise in young people. Every day, each patient only has about 40 minutes of rehabilitation therapy, which is not able to meet the treatment requirements. In addition, stroke patients take a lot of time and costs to travel to hospitals.

In order to solve the problems, in October 2021, the team came up with an idea to create ‘A Rehabilitation Glove’ that provide active support in rehabilitation for people with a stroke. The glove uses compressed air to assist the rehabilitation of the fingers for patients with sequelae after a cerebrovascular accident.

The medical device is designed as a glove combined with silicone fingers. The silicon fingers are made into gas chambers in series. When a patient puts his/her fingers in the glove, the pneumatic system is started. Compressed air is passed through the air chambers to the patient's hand. The expansion of the air chambers will support the flexing motion of the human fingers. From there, the device helps the patient to repeat many times the movement of grasping and straightening the paralysed arm to improve mobility. In particular, the electronic components are separated, so it is not dangerous to use.

When using the glove, the patient can actively practice at home without the support of medical staff. Rehabilitation glove have received much attention from both judges and visitors at some contests.

“Most recently, the product has won the first prize at the national final of the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) Contest. EPICS is an internationally recognised engineering-based service learning and social innovation applied project program that inspires students to use engineering and human-centered design to build solutions for social challenges. In the coming time, the team will continue to make their product more effective and practical for the community” shared Le Nhat Chinh.

Support people with shaking hands

One of the innovative start-up products in the medical field that have received much attention at the exhibition is a device to assist people with hand tremors.

The product is created by students Bach Ngoc Bich Dao and Vo Van Hoang, both from the University of Technical Education - the University of Da Nang, under the guidance of Dr. Nguyen Xuan Bao, Head of Mechanical Engineering Faculty, the University of Technical Education.

Bich Dao said that currently, people with Parkinson's disease have difficulty walking, slow movements, and trembling hands, but science has not found a definitive cure. Although drugs and surgery can slow the progression of the disease, they are prone to side effects. Therefore, the team wants to create a device to support people with hand tremors to improve their lives and reduce patients’ drug use.

With the active support from lecturer Nguyen Xuan Bao, Bich Dao's group successfully created a device to support people with hand tremors from February - May 2022.

This is a product in the form of a glove using gyroscope technology to support recovery for Parkinson's patients. The gyroscope, after being activated, will gyro operate on the principle of angular momentum. The rotating discs inside the gyroscope will provide additional force feedback to the hand, thereby reducing hand tremors.

According to Bich Dao's share, the product has been tested by some Parkinson's patients and shown positive signs. Patients using the glove have reduced the use of medication, and at the same time, the patient's hand is also more stable than before.

“In the process of perfecting the product, the most difficult part of the team was finding the right materials to make the gyroscope. This is an important device to balance the movement of the machine with the human hand” said Bich Dao.

She hoped that in the coming time her group will receive both in-kind and cash support to continue to perfect the product in order to bring it into practice soon.

Reporting by NGOC QUOC - Translating by M.DUNG