Issued by: Beth Stafford
Phone: 414-229-4800
bstaff@uwm.edu
Thursday, January 25, 2007
| UWM Announces Center for Wounded Vets With $1 Million Federal Appropriation
Improving the quality of life for soldiers and veterans is the objective of the new UWM Mobility Challenged Veterans Center announced yesterday by Congresswoman Gwen Moore, along with UWM Chancellor Carlos E. Santiago and College of Health Sciences Dean Randall S. Lambrecht.
Rep. Moore worked to secure a $1 million federal appropriation to support this unique effort. The center will be funded through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.
“We're currently engaged in two international conflicts, and in this day and age, there is no frontline. More American soldiers are returning with injuries–four times more than during the Vietnam War. Over 500 of these men and women are now amputees. UWM and the MOVE Initiative are developing technologies that could make all the difference to these injured soldiers as they transition into their new life. By performing this research at UWM, we are fulfilling a promise owed to our veterans, with the advantage of keeping high-tech research jobs right here in Milwaukee,” said Rep. Moore.
The MOVE Center will conduct research to develop new rehabilitative technologies for soldiers and veterans who have mobility problems as the result of being wounded in combat.
During World War II, the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War, there were three wounded on the battlefield for every soldier killed in combat. During the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the ratio has risen to 12 wounded for every death.
The center is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that builds on the strong and diverse expertise of engineers, rehabilitation scientists and clinicians in Southeastern Wisconsin. The center will employ the research expertise of College of Health Sciences faculty in imaging, rehabilitation and therapeutic sciences, and rehabilitation engineering, in collaboration with Milwaukee’s Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Administration Medical Center and other academic and corporate partners.
Research team members from the College of Health Sciences introduced at the Thursday event included Assistant Professor Yiorgos Papaioannou, Human Movement Sciences; Associate Professor Janis Eells, Health Sciences; Research Scientist Bertram Ezenwa, and Professor Roger Smith, Occupational Therapy and Director of the R2D2 Center.
The first MOVE project consists of an innovative approach to design, implement and efficiently evaluate the performance of a new human socket interface pressure relief system for below-knee amputees.
For lower extremity amputees, a well-fitting socket is an important element for a successful rehabilitation. The socket provides the interface between the prosthesis and residual limb, which is designed to provide comfort, appropriate load transmission, and efficient movement control. Up to 55% of lower limb amputees report dissatisfaction with socket comfort, residual limb pain, and/or skin breakdown.
The key feature of the proposed human-socket interface pressure relief system is a real-time capability to identify pressure spots in the socket and mechanically decrease such pressure. This would reduce or eliminate pain (and possible injury).
The project has four components:
- Preventive systems design, development and transfer: Investigating and investing in new tools and devices that improve and change the way diagnosis affects clinical decision making.
- Substitutive systems design, development and transfer of biomedical, rehabilitation and assistive technologies: These technologies substitute for various physical limitations and compensate for sensory losses. The long-term focus is to design systems of intelligent, adaptable surfaces and smart interfaces. An example is a socket design that contains embedded sensors to detect pressure, displacement, heat, humidity, etc.
- Rehabilitation and training programs: Such programs will provide training to the clinical therapist, occupational therapist and physical therapist in assisting rehabilitation of disabled individuals using new technologies.
- Assessment and outcome: This includes the evaluation of new and existing biomedical technologies.
Goals for the MOVE Center have been established within time frames of 1-3 and 2-6 years, leading to the creation of a think-tank environment within an international “center of excellence.”
All of these goals are driven by the primary focus of improving the quality of life for soldiers and veterans.
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