Page 480 - Biomedical Engineering and Design Handbook Volume 2, Applications

458 REHABILITATION ENGINEERING AND PROSTHETICS DESIGN

It is our role to utilize technology to expand the options available. As a result of the Americans with
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Disabilities Act, companies must make reasonable accommodations to allow those with disabilities
to succeed in the workplace.
It is my hope that readers will consider lending their talents to this challenging but satisfying
field. I also encourage you to fully incorporate universal design into all your products.

16.2 DESIGN METHODOLOGY

This section has been developed to supplement the many fine design textbooks available. The order
of the subsections from problem definition to embodiment design is similar to the organization of
many of these texts. The conceptual generation stage includes techniques such as brainstorming and
functional decomposition. This section will simply present functional decomposition as an example.
Embodiment design, where the design concept begins its physical form, combines product architecture,
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configuration, and parametric design. Here, the focus is on human factors and universal design.
Evaluation methods and detail design are not included, but your concepts should satisfy universal
design principles in the evaluation stage.

16.2.1 Problem Definition
This subsection addresses special issues in the problem definition stage of the design process. It then
demonstrates how techniques such as quality function deployment can be applied to this field.

16.2.2 Avoid an III-Defined Problem
A properly defined engineering problem is essential to a successful design. You must understand the
desires and needs of the device’s user, as well as those who will interact with, prescribe, service, or pay
for this device. (Read Sec. 16.2.5 for more details.) Many articles and texts treat this topic, and it is there
that I refer you. 1–3,7 As you study this chapter, pay careful attention to the person’s age, prognosis, and
the many social-psychological issues as the problem is defined. If the user is a child, his or her size will
change, as will his or her physical and cognitive abilities. A person with a disease may have his or her
condition improve or worsen. The prognosis is the best indication of what might happen. Finally, if the
device has any negative connotations associated with it, it might not be used in public or at all.

16.2.3 Striving to Increase Independence
Assistive devices for persons with disabilities are not designed to “fix” the person but rather to improve
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the person’s surroundings. Devices that can improve and enhance a person’s independence are of great
value. A device that helps a person bathe his or her elderly parent is useful. Imagine a product that
allows this parent to bathe himself or herself; now that is wonderful! Whether applying universal design
principles to develop a product to satisfy an aging population, an adult to succeed in the workplace, a
teen to attend school, or a child to participate in social activities with both able-bodied and disabled
friends, an engineer has the ability to increase a person’s independence and improve the quality of his
or her life. In addition, for often a negligible differential in per-unit cost when designed into the prod-
uct, a company will increase its market share by tapping into this large population.

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The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990 and went into effect in January 1992. Reasonable accom-
modations refer to efforts that may include, among other adjustments, making the workplace structurally accessible to disabled
individuals, restructuring jobs to make best use of an individual’s skills, modifying work hours, reassigning an employee with a
disability to an equivalent position as soon as one becomes vacant, acquiring or modifying equipment or devices, appropriately
adjusting or modifying examinations, training materials, or policies, and providing qualified readers for the blind or interpreters
for the deaf.