"Lonely Robo": Robotic Word Search Solving System;How Social and Commercial Imperatives Compromise the Safety of U.S. Medical and Health Technology 442 views

The success of medical technology depends both on its technical efficacacy and on its application in practice. The research team developed an automated system that detects, parses, and solves printed word-search puzzles as a demonstration of multidisciplinary engineering projects that are essential in applications such as robotic surgery. Our team sketched major components before implementation and tested them. We deployed a “divide and conquer” strategy to distribute the work. The resulting system solved several word-search puzzles, demonstrating the value of techniques such as optical character recognition and 3D printing. In the U.S. commercial imperatives sometimes compromise the safety of medical technology. A misperception of a medical device’s capabilities can be catastrophic. Marketing teams and media sometimes exaggerate the capabilities of medical technology. Marketing claims and media reports are sometimes inconsistent with medical research findings, indicating that medical technology may be misused or overused, at high cost and to the detriment of patient health.

BS (Bachelor of Science)

Computer Vision; 3D Printing; Robotics; False Advertising; Medical Technology; MedTech; United States; Multidisciplinary Engineering; Circuit Design; Embedded Systems

School of Engineering and Applied Science Bachelor of Computer Engineering Technical Advisor: Harry Powell STS Advisors: Sean Elliott, Peter Norton Technical Team Members: Wade Hisiro, Joshua Laney, Nicholas Mohammed, Christopher Truong

English

2020-05-08