PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A Portsmouth native is putting her engineering lessons to good use — even before she graduates from Elon University in North Carolina.
Cassidy Parrish’s father has been suffering from joint pain for years. But now, after being tasked with choosing a special project, there may be light at the end of the tunnel.
“I know I wanted to do something that’s going to help people,” Parrish said. “And so that’s kind of been my biggest thing going into engineering in general,” Parrish said.
Parrish realized her dream early—her fascination with “soft robotic” technology was cemented when she saw Disney’s “Big Hero 6” in high school.
“He’s a medical healthcare professional and he’s squishy and soft, and soft for patients to use,” Parrish said.
And helping starts at home. Her father suffers from hand mobility problems and joint pain. A special glove on the market now can help him.
“It pumps air into different valves, and through that high-pressurized air pumping, it basically allows for the joint to move as you would by moving your fingers,” Parrish said.
But it doesn’t accommodate her father’s unique problem, which is atypical finger positioning.
“Throughout the years, they’ve kind of started to, what his doctor calls ‘trigger,'” she said. “So they’re kind of locked in an atypical position that doesn’t allow his hand to move in certain ways.”
A standard glove’s finger caps slide off too easily, she said, not allowing him to receive the full benefit. Rehabilitation is important, so her mission is to modify the glove to better fit her dad’s unique hand.
“What future work can be done on this would be to make something standardized that can be modified by the user in real time. So, kind of like when you have a belt or watch band or something, you can notch the strap back a little bit and it’ll get bigger or smaller.”
Even though he’s the one getting the help, helping him means a lot to her.
“He’s always given so much back to me, supporting me through my journey, supporting me to go into engineering,” she said. “And it’s your dad, you want to help him, he’s your superhero. You’re always going to think that he’s going to be able to do everything.”
Parrish will present her research April 29, then form a group to start on those modifications.
