ZPower® Announces Battery Bowl Design Challenge Winner
Camarillo, Calif. (PRWEB) October 03, 2017 -- ZPower, the world’s only developer of rechargeable, silver-zinc microbatteries, has chosen the winner of its first-ever Battery Bowl Design Challenge, an undergraduate engineering competition where qualifying applicants developed and prototyped a device that makes the best use of ZPower’s rechargeable microbattery technology. The winning team was awarded $25,000.
The winning device is a spasticity evaluation glove called Handsk e., created by the team of Quyen Hoang and Carl Demolder from the University of California, San Diego. Spasticity is a condition in which certain muscles are continuously contracted, which can interfere with normal movement, speech and gait. Spasticity is usually caused by damage to the portion of the brain or spinal cord that controls voluntary movement, and it affects more than an estimated 12 million people worldwide.
The Handsk e. glove is worn by a medical professional to measure a patient’s muscle tone through the use of pressure sensors and subsequent data collection. Currently, the clinical evaluation of spasticity is qualitative and uses subjective measurement scales. The purpose of the Handsk e. is to provide an objective and quantitative way to assess spasticity, which in turn may lead to better treatment protocols.
“Carl and Quyen are very creative and dedicated to this smart glove project for assessing movement disorders,” said Tina Ng, Professor at UCSD. “Currently the assessment scales are not reliable based on subjective perception. The glove they built measures patients’ muscle stiffness objectively, and as such helps clinicians to base treatment on accurate and reliable measurements, to prescribe the right medication dosage and avoid dangerous side effects in treatments.”
For a power source, the Handsk e. utilizies two size-48 ZPower rechargeable silver-zinc batteries. ZPower batteries were chosen because they provide the highest energy density for their size compared to other rechargeable options, and they are capable of hundreds of recharges throughout their lifetime without significant loss of energy. They are also nonflammable, nontoxic and recyclable.
“We would like to congratulate Carl Demolder and Quyen Hoang of UCSD for being the winners of our first ever Battery Bowl,” said Ross Dueber, President and CEO of ZPower. “The engineering students of today are the innovators and technology disruptors of tomorrow. With this competition we are happy to support the spirit of innovation and provide the types of challenges that result in creative, forward-facing design.”
To learn more about ZPower batteries, visit http://www.zpowerbattery.com.
About ZPower, LLC:
ZPower, with headquarters and a manufacturing facility in Camarillo, California, is a leader in the development of rechargeable silver-zinc batteries for microbattery applications. ZPower batteries deliver unmatched performance, improve user experience and are better for the environment. ZPower is ISO13485:2016 and ISO 9001:2008 certified, and its facility and devices are registered with the FDA. For more information, visit http://www.zpowerbattery.com.
Katrina Sylvester, ZPower Battery, LLC., http://www.zpowerbattery.com, +1 805-443-1485, [email protected]
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