Ebony Dillard knew there had to be a better way to prevent her physical therapy patients from tripping and falling as they worked toward regaining their mobility.
“We use belts or a band to hold feet apart. Initially, I thought of vibrations but with neuropathy, they might not feel it. I wondered what else could I use,” said Dillard, a physical therapy assistant at Augusta’s Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, whose idea of using magnets in a device came to fruition in a prototype in 2022. It should be on the market by year’s end.
Innovation in patient care is important at the VA, and an Innovation Summit held July 25 at the uptown division of the hospital highlighted some of those inventions created by people working on the frontlines.
“This program builds on the foundation that the frontline staff is best positioned to fix the problems that they see every single day,” said Kelsey Shull, one of two innovation specialists in Augusta who was named the 2023 Innovation Specialist of the Year. “The solution Is not going to come in conference rooms in Washington, D.C. It’s going to come from the PT gym or in the clinical realm from staff who see veterans every day.”
Dillard had the concept for her “Device for gait, Efficiency and Balance,” or DEB, several years ago, but it wasn’t until she started working at the VA that she could move it forward. She said she learned about the innovations program at employee orientation.
Shull said the summit brought together people within the VA as well as community partners from organizations such as Augusta University and the Georgia Cyber Center who have the technological savvy to help translate ideas into reality.
Other innovations highlighted include a pair of glasses that can provide closed captioning in conversations.
“Hearing deficiencies are the most common service-related disability for veterans,” she said. “Weapon, submarines are loud. They do damage, and hearing aids don’t work for some.”
Those should be on the market within the next 12-18 months, she said.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
