Thinking Outside the Bubble

Grayson Rosenberger thinks outside the bubble. And because he does, the 15-year-old student from Nashville, Tenn., is on the road to making a difference in the lives of people he doesn’t even know.

Using Bubble Wrap, the popular plastic packaging, Rosenberger has devised a $15 covering that provides lifelike dimensions to prosthetic legs. His invention has won him the da Vinci Apprentice Award (see sidebar), and he has already won a $10,000 award from the Sealed Air Corp., maker of Bubble Wrap.

Rosenberger’s creation offers hope to leg amputees in Third World countries. Because they cannot afford the usual price tag for a lifelike prosthesis and must use only the plain metal rod, they are ridiculed and often refused jobs.

“My idea was to use Bubble Wrap to simulate muscle tone and form a cosmetic shell for artificial limbs,” Rosenberger writes in an account of his invention. The prosthesis is wrapped in Bubble Wrap, secured with packing tape and molded with a heat gun.

“Pulling an inexpensive, flesh-colored hose over the Bubble Wrap made the device look more lifelike and would help the amputee blend in with their society for a fraction of the costs of conventional cosmetic coverings,” Rosenberger writes.

How did he even come up with such an idea?

“In 1983, my mother, Gracie, was in a terrible car accident that cost her more than 70 operations, including the amputation of both legs,” Rosenberger explains.

“While recovering from losing her legs, my mother watched a television show about amputees in developing countries, and she knew at that moment that she wanted to provide artificial limbs for amputees just like her, so she and my father [Peter] started Standing With Hope [www.standingwithhope.com]. They work with the government of Ghana and train their workers on how to provide high-quality prosthetic limbs in a low-tech environment.”

Rosenberger had heard stories and seen videos of his family’s work in Ghana, and he was particularly moved by the story of Daniel. “My parents took care of his need for a prosthetic leg last year, but he really wanted a covering so his classmates wouldn’t tease him,” the inventor says.

That was the inspiration for his creation. In June, he traveled to Ghana to put his invention into practice and train clinic employees to make the coverings.

His intent was to make Daniel’s leg first. But sadly, he learned that Daniel had died of malaria just weeks before. “He was only 15, just like me,” Rosenberger writes.

While it was too late for Daniel, Rosenberger’s invention is changing the lives of many others in Ghana.

“In Africa, I realized I’m in a big story, in a much larger world,” he writes. “I want my message to be, ‘Anyone can make a difference, even a woman who’s missing both legs … or a teenager with Bubble Wrap.’”

Da Vinci Awards Honor Adaptive, Assistive Inventions

This year’s da Vinci Awards, which benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, will be presented in Dearborn, Mich., on Sept. 28. The awards honor outstanding engineering achievements in design process, product design and applied research that embrace the Universal Design Principle.

Adaptive technology winners this year include:

• Handybar, an aluminum handle that fits into a car door striker plate to enable easy entrance and exit;
• FuelCall System, a touch-pad connected to a service-station island that allows drivers with disabilities to summon assistance;
• EagleEyes, which, through electrodes placed on the user’s head, allows people to control the computer by moving only their eyes;
• Independence iBOT 4000 Mobility System, a wheelchair that allows users to power across uneven terrain and climb curbs and steps up to five inches;
• Proprio Foot, an intelligent foot module for amputees that provides a wide range of automated ankle flexion;
• WalkAide, a battery-operated technology that helps restore functionality to impaired extremities.

Several special awards, including the Apprentice Award to Grayson Rosenberger, will also be presented.

For more information about the awards, visit www.davinciawards.com.