Trine Engineers and PTs Collaborate

Senior Trine University engineering students create augmented feedback device designed to help teach DPT students manual therapy techniques

After a professor pitched the idea of creating a manual therapy feedback device, engineering student Alexandra Kartje and her group members took it on as their senior design project. Keeping in mind that the device should be cost effective and useful for DPT students, they created an augmented feedback device with live graphical output for visual feedback and a vibration motor for tactile feedback.

“There are other devices similar to what we created, but they are outrageously expensive,” Kartje said. “With our main customer being the Trine Physical Therapy Department, the goal of this project was to provide the device at as low of a cost as possible. Ultimately, we wanted to improve the overall quality and consistency of the manual therapy techniques for Trine’s PT students.” 

Throughout the process, Kartje and her group learned about physical therapy and how their product could make a difference in the classroom. 

“Our group has learned a lot about manual therapy and physical therapy techniques in general,” Kartje said. “We are a group of engineering students, so we did not have any background coming in to the project. We have also learned how engineering can aid in a classroom setting.”

Once their prototype was finished, DPT students and faculty were able to try it out on each other in the lab. First year DPT student, Emma Bowman found the feedback device to be helpful with grading manual therapy. 

“I found their device helpful, especially as someone who has not had any manual therapy training yet,” Bowman said. “It had an awesome feature that would vibrate when you reached the next grade. This helped me gauge how much pressure I needed to apply to accurately grade a mobilization.”

"Hough To"

Third-year DPT students Cory and Kari Hough start educational video series entitled “Hough To”

In attempts to educate the public on women’s health and improving performance and mobility, third-year DPT students Cory and Kari Hough have begun a video series entitled “Hough To.”

“The video series was named based on a play on words of our last name of Hough (pronounced ‘How’),” Cory Hough said. “We cover various topics and "How To" help with them. We started doing them in collaboration with our final clinical rotation at Recharge in Ellicott City, Maryland as a way to become better at explaining things to the general public.”

The videos are intended to give viewers immediate help on topics such as pelvic floor relaxation and pain free squatting, but also suggest when they should see a physical therapist. 

“The videos are meant to be short with actionable steps that people can get value from immediately,” Cory Hough said. “The videos Kari leads are mostly concerning women's health, and the videos I lead are more focused on improving performance/mobility. Our target audience is anyone who can benefit from movement, so that means everyone.”

To check out Kari and Cory’s “Hough to” video series on Facebook.

Lucky Shot

DPT program alumnus, Logan Thomas, makes half-court shot during halftime at the Lakers game

Trine DPT alumnus Logan Thomas had been wanting to go to a Lakers game since he was a young child. When he finally got the chance to go watch his favorite team in action, he knew it would be an enjoyable experience. What he didn’t expect, however, was to make the half-court shot that would send him home from the game with 25,000 dollars. 

“It was an out of body experience,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t really feel the ball leave my hands, and it seemed to be in slow motion, and the ball stayed in the air forever. I’ve always wanted to go to a Lakers game since I grew up watching Kobe, so that was an awesome experience for my first game in LA. I’ve never won anything similar to this, but when I was little and my sisters were in high school I would shoot free throws to win a 2 liter of pop during halftime at their basketball games. I won $25,000 which will go straight to student loans, thanks to Dr. Sullivan’s lectures and the love of Dave Ramsey.”

Watch Logan’s winning shot.

Sports Resident

Taylor Miller from DPT Class of 2019 selected for Sports Residency

In August 2019 Taylor Miller will begin a 13-month program at ATI in Seattle, Washington. Completing this residency will allow Taylor to take the ABPTS Sports Clinical Specialist examination. The residency includes mentorship, journal club, skills-labs, didactic coursework, field and training room coverage for high schools and collegiate teams, clinical care, and physician shadowing. "The sports residents also work closely with the orthopedic residents, so there is definitely a lot to be learned within a short period of time," said Miller.

Concussion IPE Event

Carew Street, Fort Wayne

In February, Trine University DPT and the University of St. Francis PA programs held an interprofessional event on Concussion at our Carew Street campus. Area clinical experts spoke about their roles in concussion management, and then students worked two patient scenarios through the continuum of care. A BIG thank you to: Kristin Smith, OT; Sundaram Kumar, PT; Cyndi Shepherd, SLP; Lucas Dargo, ATC; Joshua Fairbanks, PA; and Emilio Vazquez, MD for sharing their insight and experiences with the OT, PA, and PT students.

DPT students and professors attend Combined Sections Meeting 2019