Surgical Lift for Dr. Muraszko

Abstract

This is the continuation of a very successful ME450 project in Winter 2008 to build a lift for Dr. Karin Muraszko, a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon at UM Medical School. Dr. Muraszko was born with spina bifida and still wears a leg brace, but this didn't hinder her from becoming Chair of the University of Michigan's Neurosurgeon Department. She is the first female to achieve such post in the US. Dr. Muraszko had a special lift built to assist her in the operating room since she was the first women accepted into the neurosurgeon program at Columbia Univ. After over 20 years, this lift was old and a ME450 team built a new lift for her. This lift is much better but still need further improvement, particularly for the mobility to roll around different operating rooms, use of electric (instead of hydraulic) power source, touch buttons or pedals to control the up-down motion, and the stainless steel structure and chair for sterilization. This surgical lift can also benefit other surgeons who are short or for surgeons who operates on large patients.