Kristen Labazzo, an assistant professor of professional practice in the School of Engineering’s Department of Biomedical Engineering has received an Innovations in Education and Teaching Pilot Grant from the Office of the Provost to develop a virtual immersive experience with the Matheny Medical and Educational Center, a facility for the severely disabled.
Her project, “Remote Immersion: Utilizing Technology to Incorporate the Patient Perspective into Biomedical Research,” will help to generate biomedical engineering student senior design projects at a time of predominantly remote learning.
“I was so excited to get the news I received this grant,” Labazzo says. “As a professor of practice, my efforts are focused on programs and teaching, so opportunities for funding like this are appreciated.”
The biomedical engineering (BME) department is entering its fourth year of collaboration with the Peapack, New Jersey center, which in years past has given students the opportunity to observe patients firsthand and talk to caregivers during an in-person immersion period. This intense experience inspires the students’ creation of new or improved medical devices for children and adults with spina bifida, cerebral palsy, and other developmental disabilities.
As part of the two-semester BME senior design requirement, students who participated in the Matheny collaboration traditionally learned about patient safety and other regulations, and rotated through occupational, speech, and physical therapies, a wheelchair clinic, feeding, classrooms, adult services, rehab, arts access and meetings with Matheny medical and executive staff, and more.
The pilot grant will enable Labazzo to adapt the successful in-person immersion experience into a virtual one so that students will enjoy nearly the same opportunities that were offered with in-person instruction.
“We aim to utilize technology to virtually bring the students into the classroom, hospital, and possibly homes of disabled individuals so that they can observe the challenges they face and ideate new or improved devices as part of their senior design requirement,” she explains. “They will use technology to check in with caregivers, solicit feedback, and share updates on their designs and ultimately share their prototypes.”
Labazzo also believes that the virtual experience will enhance the in-person collaboration with Matheny. “I definitely think we’ll be observing a new way of living and education which has particularly impacted the disabled community, especially during strict quarantine. I’m hoping it will allow students to see parts of the lives of these patients that they normally do not see,” she says. “Observing someone in their home, versus a classroom, will paint a different picture. We will truly be observing a new world, which provides even more opportunities for innovation.”
According to Labazzo, by giving students the opportunity to understand the “voice of the consumer,” the experience with Matheny is invaluable for those students who have chosen biomedical engineering as a pathway to devising solutions that help people directly. As recent BME graduate Stephanie Otten puts it, “I became a biomedical engineer because I wanted to spend my life creating things to better the lives of those in need. The immersion at Matheny completely validated my choice.”