Novel vaginal speculum design wins Best Overall Award for BME Senior Design

A high percentage of women aged 15-65 avoid pelvic procedures involving speculums due to fear of discomfort, which can lead to increased rates of reproductive health issues. But one Senior Design team at the Weldon School devised a solution includes a novel opening mechanism, a tri-valvular conical blade design, variable blade sizes, and a novel locking mechanism. This novel design allows for easy insertion and less patient discomfort, and with transparent blades, physicians will have improved visualization of the vaginal wall.

The senior design course instructors awarded Best Overall Award to the SAZER Vaginal Speculum team, consisting of Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering students Safa Chowdhury, Adriana Rotger, Omozafe Udegbe, Evelyn Nonamaker and Riley Holloway. In April, several of the SAZER team members traveled to California to speak as invited guests at the UC-San Diego BMES Bioengineering Day, giving them the unique opportunity for cross-campus collaboration on their project.

For a background on their exciting work, please view the video below.


 


Additionaly, the following teams were also presented with Senior Design awards:

Engineering Rigor Award
Title: Aspiration Thrombectomy Catheter Characterization
Team members: Ciara de Venecia, Matthew Ebert, John Hughes, Ethan Pollack, Arjun Saxena

User Impact Award
Title: Bladder Volume Monitoring Device
Team members: Chris Kannmacher, Anand Schroff, Stevie Burgett, Damen Wilson, Ben McAteer

Design Innovation Award
Title: Pediatric Oximetry Device
Team members: Stella Erickson, Katherine Kerr, Katherine McCarthy, John Salvas, Pankti Thakkar

Design Iteration Award
Title: IEMG
Team members: Max Giesemann, Morgan Goetz, Alex Schaefer, Clarisse Zigan, Evan Zolcak

Translational Merit Award
Title: Pectus Pressure Corrector
Team members: Joanna Bastian, Alec Booth, Emily Hamman, Soham Joshi, Cade Morgan

Aesthetic Design Award
Title: 3D Printed Pressure Sensing Prosthetic Socket
Team members: Dana Boucher, Caroline Chesler, Ryleigh Norton, Shiv Patel, Alec Ramos

Visit the Senior Design webpage for more information about senior design at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. The school welcomes submissions of project ideas and industry and clinical team sponsors and mentors. 

 

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