2015/8/14 1:15:41
Source: Web
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Medical casts are getting a whole lot
smarter thanks to the BoomCast, a 3D-printed cast with sensors and electronics
onboard to help doctors better track the healing process and provide improved
mobility.
The BoomCast
project was conceived of byMike North,
perhaps best known for his role on the Science Channel's "Outrageous Acts
of Science" or his "In The Making"
YouTube series. North broke his leg celebrating the life of his best friend Dan
Fredinburg, the Google executive who was killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest back in April.
When North, a
frequent traveler who's highly active, was fitted for a cast, his doctors gave
him two options. Either he could be fitted with a walking cast that allowed him
to move freely but not be able to
travel due to potential swelling, or they could cut the cast in
half to eliminate swelling issues, but he'd be bound to crutches.
Neither option sounded pleasant to
North, so he turned to the folks at Fathom Studio,
a 3D-printing and additive-manufacturing company, for help. Over the course of
a couple of days, the Fathom team took a scan of North's leg and created a
so-called BoomCast custom-fitted to his leg that would allow him to travel and
bear weight.
Of course, this
was no ordinary cast, and North and the Fathom crew equipped the BoomCast with
a host of sensors, lights and speakers to gather data and promote healing. The
BoomCast is equipped with the Intel Edison chipset -- a postage stamp-sized processor geared toward the maker
and Internet of Things markets -- which gives the cast its computational
prowess.
The sensors
feeding the Edison include a gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer and a few
integrated pressure sensors, which combine to measure things like North's leg
movements and how much his leg is swelling. Data collected are fed to Google's Firebase in real-time, where they can be shared
with North's doctor, who can use this information to provide better care to his
patient.
In addition to providing protection and
transmitting data, BoomCast also serves as a sort of entertainment device. The
makers fitted BoomCast with Bluetooth speakers that were intended to provide
sonic healing functionality, but North ended up using them to crank out some
tunes to elevate his mood -- something he says his friend Dan would probably do
as well.
Don't expect to see the BoomCast become a consumer product anytime soon,
however, as it's more a proof of concept that these types of things are
possible in devices like medical casts. The team has made the project
open-source -- meaning that all of the information and designs the team use is
available for others to take to create new, better products in the future.
With these
advancements and others, it's only a matter of time before casts and other
medical devices get a whole lot smarter. Be sure to check out the video below
to see how the BoomCast was designed and built, and visit Fathom's
page for even more info on the project.
(Credit: Web)