AUC’s Graduate Designs Device to Help Patients with Osteoarthritis

Balqees Haidar, who graduated from the American University in Cairo in 2019, designed a low-cost prototype, to measure the effects of splints, worn by patients with osteoarthritis in thumbs, on their hands using 3D printing.

This came after Haidar received the Tomorrow's Leaders Scholarship and studying mechanical engineering at the university. Through her participation in the university research program at the American University in Cairo, Haidar received training at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and used the soft-sensing techniques that were developed at the University of Leeds.

Under the title of HAILO, Haidar Research was a joint project of Imperial College London, University of Leeds and University of Oxford.

Haider received the Research Excellence Award from the University of Leeds in 2018 and participated at the International Conference on University Research in Germany in May 2019.

Haidar is now studying to get a Master of Science in Optical Engineering in Europe.

"The aim of the project was to prepare the splint to be equipped with soft sensing technology, for assessing mechanical power and patient with Osteoarthritis response. This project would improve the future design of splints,” Haidar said.

Contributed by Basant Ahmed