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Health by designFrom biomech breakthroughs to the leading edge in digital medicine, engineers in the health field make tomorrow’s technology work for patients today. By Tracey Arial |
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 [ 2006-11-29 ] |
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André Foucault didn’t know whether he’d be able to make his dream come true when he walked into the Robovic offices in April 2002. The Victoriaville physiotherapist wanted help perfecting a machine that gets patients moving easily after knee operations. Foucault had already built a small mechanical prototype. He imagined a more advanced version that any physiotherapist could set up for any patient. He then hoped to patent and market the device.
After discussing his project with colleagues at the Hôtel-Dieu d’Arthabaska hospital and the Université de Sherbrooke, Foucault was directed to two different companies. Robovic, a Princeville-based industrial automation firm, was his second choice. A company specializing in equipment for manufacturing and packaging plastic bags and metal pieces wouldn’t be the obvious place to find people with clinical expertise.
As it turned out, Robovic president Guy Gagnon had someone who fit the bill. One of his research and development engineers was on the team that had won first prize in the student category at France’s Salon de l’invention et de l’innovation in 1997 for developing a multi-position wheelchair. (When stationary, the chair’s mechanism enabled users to lift onto a higher chair or stand at a counter.) At the time, Patrick Marcoux, Eng., had been completing his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke, but Gagnon knew of the project because Marcoux spent all four of his co-op internships at Robovic.
CLINICAL DESIGN TAKES LONGER
After graduating, Marcoux joined Robovic’s research and development section. He’s involved in everything, from the initial bidding and cost estimates to prototype design, quality assurance and manufacturing. Most industrial projects are delivered within four months.
The knee exerciser took four years to get to the patent stage and could have continued indefinitely, as long as improvements were possible. “It wasn’t a lot of work to create,” says Marcoux, “but it took a lot of time to make it better.”
Marcoux improved early prototypes by testing them on his own knees. He then gave them to Foucault, who tested them and returned with comments. “Patients are all different sizes,” says Marcoux, “and some of them can’t move, so it has to be easy to reinstall each time.”
The final aluminum device was patented in Canada and the United States. Building the device was a great experience, says Marcoux, who worked closely with Gagnon and mechanical engineering technician Joséane Pellerin. Marcoux explains: “It gave me a chance to see what the medical side was all about. The full development of prototypes offered multiple challenges. I became a very technically strong engineer in design, project management and manufacturing.”
Robovic is now hunting for a research group interested in conducting clinical trials on the device. After that, Robovic and Foucault will partner to manufacture and internationally market the product.
WHAT IS BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING?
Marcoux’s foray into health-sector technology places him in a special category of engineers known as “biomedical engineers.” These engineers use physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer science to research, operate and maintain technological equipment in hospitals, clinics or medical manufacturing companies. Some train users of medical equipment as well.
Their work tends to fall into particular clinical areas. Those who deal with medical imaging equipment, which is used to visualize the body’s internal structures or processes, usually specialize in the emission and detection of high-frequency sound waves (ultrasound) or electromagnetic waves (X-rays, gamma rays, magnetic resonance). Another area of expertise involves instruments such as lasers, pacemakers, defibrillators, the cardio-bypass machines that keep patients’ blood circulating during surgery, and the laparoscopes used to thread minuscule cameras inside patients’ abdomens. Different specialists may concentrate on the equipment used to measure organs and blood flow in vascular surgery, neuroscience, ophthalmology, orthopedics and cardiology. Still others focus on designing automated tests such as electrocardiograms (ECGs, for heart activity), electroencephalograms (EEGs, for brain activity) and electromyographs (EMGs, for muscle activity).
Marcoux’s student wheelchair project is an example of the area dedicated to improving the daily life of individuals with health issues. Also included in this category are prosthetics such as artificial limbs and lifts for people with reduced mobility.
NEW CERTIFICATE IN HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES AT ETS
Most universities in Quebec offer engineering graduates the opportunity to study biomedical engineering, either through their faculty of medicine or under their engineering or computer science departments.
The Université du Québec’s École de technologie supérieure, however, has two programs specifically targeted at graduate engineers: a 30-credit certificate and a 45-credit master’s degree in healthcare technologies.
The certificate requires that students study human systems engineering, health-sector risk evaluation, and health-technology standards and certification. They must then take another seven courses in specific biomedical fields, such as treatment and instrumentation.
For more information, log on to the ETS website, and click Programmes d’études/Certificats/Génie des technologies de la santé, or call (514) 396-8888 or 888-394-7888.
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