Stand With Me

This past fall, at Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College we worked to identify a social need in the area of mobility or portability and implement a creative and effective solution. We soon discovered the need for pediatric standing frames, which are devices that help children with severe disabilities to stand in an upright position and perform weight bearing exercise. Weight bearing exercise for a minimum of one hour per day is critical for normal development and has huge health benefits including development of muscles and bones, improved respiration and circulation, as well as better bowel function. Standers also have enormous social benefits for the child as well. A stander allows a child to be up in the middle of the action of the home, interacting with the world in a normal vertical position.

Many patients across the globe are unable to have a stander for home therapy due to the exorbitant cost. Standers available on the market today cost more than $1,000 and can cost as much as $8,000. They also have many complicated and unique parts. We developed a pediatric stander for children aged 3-7, that is cost effective, adjustable and comfortable. The final design cost only $50 to build, and it meets the rigorous specifications suggested by multiple physical therapists, and users. Our pediatric stander is unique in many ways, including the fact that the product comes in pre-assembled pieces that are easily put together by the client. This allows for low assembly cost, and smaller shipping fees. We are currently running four clinical trials of the device in Arequipa, Peru, and we will be making design adjustments based on long-term user feedback. We are currently filling a provisional patenting for our design. We are running four clinical trials of the device with some of MMI’s Physical therapists in Arequipa now, and plan to distribute 300-500 of the standers on a total of three continents in the next 6-10 months.

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