Cutting-Edge Inventions from the Next Generation
The National Museum of Education this fall inducted five outstanding students into the National Gallery for America’ Young Inventors.
Inducting for the fifth year, the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors is a museum of young American inventors whose ideas aim to positively impact our society. Its purpose is to preserve and promote great inventions produced by America’s youth. The National Gallery inducts young people in grades K-12 annually.
The inductees are:
Katherine Bomkamp, currently a freshman at West Virginia University, invented the Pain Free Socket, developed while attending North Point High School for Science, Technology and Industry in Maryland.
What she says about her invention:
Phantom limb pain (pain in a person’s non-existent limb) plagues an estimated 80 percent of the world’s 10 million amputees.
Phantom pains are thought to be caused by the brain still sending signals and commands down to an amputated limb which no longer exists.
To eliminate this pain, 25 feet of embedded thermo-resistive wiring is connected to a lithium ion battery pack inside of a below-the-knee prosthetic socket, allowing for concentrated and controlled heat to stimulate severed nerve endings in the residual limb, effectively stopping the brain’s signals down to the amputated limb.
This thermal biofeedback works to stimulate a patient’s severed nerve endings, as well as to force the brain to focus on the heat, rather than to send signals and commands to the former limb. The concentrated heat also works as a muscle relaxant for the residual limb.
This treatment has the potential to be very effective as it takes into account the underlying factors producing the pain, does not use expensive (and largely ineffective) medications, holds no potential addiction factor, and has the ability to be produced in a portable and easily accessible environment.
Anirudh Mohan, a freshman at Duke University, developed Synthesis and Characterization of Biomarker-Harvesting Hydrogel Nanoparticles while at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology in Virginia.
What he says about his invention:
The medical industry relies heavily on differential diagnosis to detect various diseases.
However, this process is constrained by high costs due to numerous tests that must be performed, as well as large error deviations associated with each individual test.
The use of synthesis and characterization of biomarker-harvesting hydrogel nanoparticles seeks to develop an alternative diagnostic strategy using nanotechnology.
The approach is to synthesize nanoparticles to detect and harvest biomarkers (low abundance proteins whose presence is indicative of a disease state) from human biological fluids.
This research suggests that these particles are highly effective in capturing lightweight proteins and possess ideal properties to eventually be viable in disease diagnosis.
Biomarkers are molecules, generally proteins, whose presence indicates a particular biological state in a cell. Every abnormal process that occurs in a cell, including those associated with a disease, results in the production of unique biomarkers.
Biomarkers serve as rich sources of information that can prove valuable in not only determining the particular disease afflicting an individual, but also the disease’s progression. If biomarkers can be collected and analyzed near the onset of a disease, the likelihood of developing a successful treatment increases dramatically.
Hydrogels are one of the most suitable types of compounds that can be used to construct a particle to harvest biomarkers.
Gavin Ovsak, a senior at Eden Prairie High School in Minnesota, invented the Circuit Head Accessibility Device or CHAD.
What he says about his invention: The CHAD creates a simple and cost-effective computer control assistance for individuals with limited or no arm control.
This new assistive device is worn on the head and may be plugged into any computer. It works with absolutely no software installation.
The goal when creating this invention was to make a “hands free” mouse with a similar interaction, while not being too restrictive of the body’s other functions.
For example, iris recognition requires constant focus and makes it impossible to look at anything else at the same time.
The alternative inputs that were commandeered for this invention were the neck and jaw. The CHAD also does all of the analyzing and processing data within the device for ease of use.
The software is USB Human-Interface-Device Protocol compliant and is recognized as an ordinary mouse when plugged in. The components include an analog dual-axis accelerometer attached to a 16 bit PIC microcompressor that is programmed to handle the necessary analog to digital conversions as well as a 20 MHz Crystal Oscillator that is the clock of the chip.
No batteries are necessary because the 5V power is routed directly from the USB port.
The accelerometer measures a component vector of the acceleration from gravity (when at rest), which changes based on the angle of title. This dual-axis tilt can be used to guide the cursor’s position.
The clicking is controlled by a “Bite-Switch,” repurposed from a skydiving camera accessory.
Gennifer Rubin
Gennifer Rubin and fellow senior Audrey Leasure at Lake Highland Preparatory School in Florida invented an Electroless Intermetallic Coating to reduce infrared emissivity and temperature oscillation in metal alloy saw blades and other applications.
What they say about their invention: An intermetallic coating is a coating comprised of two or more metals (in this case, nickel and boron) that reduces friction while simultaneously increasing durability and lifespan of the object being coated.
This invention results in the creation of a coating that uses sodium borohydride as the boron source, rather than boric acid, and incorporates zirconyl ions as deposition enhancers to increase the percent of boron in relation to nickel that can be deposited onto the surface of a cutting blade.
The development has applications in the medical industry. Currently, one in every third cast removal results in some kind of burn or laceration to the patient as burns and abrasions can occur from the heat created by frictional forces and direct blade contact.
Previous coatings have attempted to reduce friction on different metal surfaces by altering the microstructure of the surface. However, these coatings have been unsuccessful due to their low levels of boron in relation to nickel.
This new intermetallic coating is harder, cheaper, more friction resistant and more environmentally friendly than any other coating on the market today, the inventors say.
Audrey Leasure
This coating may revolutionize the medical industry by preventing harm from medical saw blades, and may also be used in any metal-based industry.
And there may be military applications as well. The technique reduces infrared emissivity by an effective means of heat distribution, making military devices practically invisible to infrared sensors.
Moreover, because this coating is harder than previous ones and more cost effective, it is a better alternative to what is now being used to coat the barrels of guns.
Likewise, oil and gas industries could benefit. Tools for drilling oil often face harsh abrasion by silica sand and often need to be replaced. Once these tools are coated in this new coating, they no longer need to be replaced.
Car and engine parts can also be coated to prevent engine wear and tear and increase horsepower.
For the food processing industry, automated knives and conveyor belts can be coated to prevent damage and deformation. This coating has the potential to revolutionize many industries and to save money in the process.
Editor’s note: This article appears in the December 2010 print edition.
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