VCU Students Design Surgical Table for Use in Developing Nations
June 17, 2009 | Levent OZLER
Seule Kabir has a master's degree in mechanical engineering and a heart that's set on helping people back home in her native Bangladesh.
She found a way to match her skills with that desire through a project that Virginia Commonwealth University students have been working on for the past two years.
The students have come up with a prototype for a surgical table that would cost only $500.
The high price tag on operating tables - they can cost $5,000 to $80,000 - means many hospitals in developing nations can afford just one.
It's a problem that not only delays treatment for patients but also raises the cost of medical care, Kabir said.
The culmination of her idea and how it evolved in the hands of two teams of students is on display Saturday through July 31 at the Science Museum of Virginia.
The project, called "Operation Simple," is the result of the collaboration of art, engineering and business students in VCU's da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development.
It remains a work in progress.
The students have taken the assignment from the classroom to the museum as they fine-tune the design and develop marketing plans.
more: timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/education/article (71)
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