One of the best parts of going to college is the freedom that students are given to develop their own passions and personal projects.
Usually, these projects will simply serve to help a student get the grades they need to pass their course, but now and then, a college student comes up with an amazing invention or innovation that reaches far beyond their own education.
This is certainly true of the field of medicine, where students can be observed to have contributed greatly to healthcare developments over the last few years.
The following are four great examples of when college students have gone above and beyond to change healthcare in some way!
Health Monitoring for Babies
In 2017, a group of students in India designed a device that better enables healthcare workers to monitor the vital signs of low-birthweight babies. In a country where the availability of adequate healthcare varies wildly, this has been a wonderful advancement.
The device can be taken on home visits to check the weight, height, and temperature of a baby, among other vitals. It includes a solar-powered digital scale with a weighing blanket, making it much easier to accurately weigh a baby. The device can also determine a baby’s temperature with a no-contact infrared thermometer.
The device has been credited with helping to reduce the mortality rate among low-birthweight babies in India.
Simply Thick Instant Food Thickener
While attending Washington University’s Executive MBA program, John L. Holahan came up with the idea for Simply Thick instant food thickener.
A class project to develop a new business idea led Holahan to invent a more palatable liquid thickener than those already available on the market.
After he graduated, Holahan went on to launch his corporation Phagia-Gel and introduced his Simply Thick gels to the market. These gels are used by patients around the world who are suffering from swallowing disorders.
ASISTM Bathroom Healthcare
Students from the ArtCenter College of Design invented the ASISTM bathroom healthcare system to improve the lives of elderly people in assisted living homes.
This invention is essentially a toilet that is able to track weight and balance, with the view to reporting these vitals to healthcare providers. The design is also constructed to help seniors with their posture.
Disaster Relief Surgical Sterilization
During his time at Northumbria School of Design, Oliver Evans invented a way to sterilize surgical equipment safely and easily during natural disasters or violent conflict.
The portable system, known as SteriCell, uses ultraviolet lights and antimicrobial technology to sterilize equipment without the need for mains power.
This is an incredible advancement in medical technology and makes emergency medical procedures much safer in certain environments.
The Future of Healthcare
Amazing inventions and innovations in the medical sector are emerging all the time, and it is exciting to think about what the next development will be.
Although these are developments that are most expected of experienced experts, it is also clear that students have a lot to offer the medical world!
Featured image: Astha Vagadia/Simply Thick/Peter Alwin.
