New Robotic Arm Makes Life Easier for Muscular Dystrophy Patient

Victoria Nedza of Pennsylvania has been living with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, but she says she needs help with too many basic things.

"I always used to ask my son to stop what he's doing, to come and help mom, grab something. And I didn't want to be a burden on him,” she told KYW.

She says she couldn't use commercially available grabbers because they required more hand strength than she had.

So on a whim, she says she reached out to the robotics department at Widener University, which was eager to help.

“They were really receptive and responsive right away," she says.

After designing and 3D printing, they came up with a touch sensor, which Nedza says, “blew my mind. [They] came up with a solution that I didn't even think of and that works perfectly. It has enabled me to be more independent.”

It's a creation the team hopes will have a greater reach than just this one patient .

Monique Chabot of Widener University told KYW, "It's pretty great knowing that we were able to help somebody with something that you can't get off of Amazon, or you can't buy it anywhere. To be able to do this for someone means a lot because knowing that it doesn't exist. It never has existed."

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