Ajman University Alumnus Brings Hope to Paralysis Patients

While innovation and social impact are two of the core values of Ajman University, a brilliant (AU) alumnus has made it happen and come up with a new hope for paralysis patients.

AU alumnus Engr. Ali Mohammed Ridha’s ‘Smart Prediction System for Facial Paralysis’ presentation has won the Excellent Presentation Certificate in the 7th International Conference on Electrical and Electronics Engineering (ICEEE 2020), held virtually in Turkey.

The winning paper, indexed by Scopus, was supervised by Prof. Kamran Arshad, Dean of Graduate Studies & Research, and Engr. Wessam Shehieb, Teaching Assistant, College of Engineering & Information Technology.

The three-day conference, held online on April 14-16, 2020, saw the participation of hundreds of competitors from around the globe. However, Ali’s genius presentation pushed back all contestants and stole the show.

Elaborating, Ali said that paralysis is the loss of muscle functions in any part of the body at any age and can be temporary or permanent.

“Many times, temporary paralysis can be treated by physical therapy without using high potency drugs.”

He added that a smart and innovative system is proposed and developed to help bell’s palsy patients which is temporary facial paralysis by automating the physiotherapy at the comfort of patients’ home using a 3D printed design.

“The proposed prototype performs the facial physiotherapy, as prescribed by the physiotherapist using a smartphone application.”

A smart app is also proposed to perform intelligent face mapping, data-logging and progression functions for patients, he disclosed. “This helps patients visualize improvements in their health conditions.”

Hailing Ali for his winning paper, Prof. Kamran Arshad said the conference is aimed to present excellent results and new challenges facing the field of the reliability and availability of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

“It brings together experts from industry, governments, and academia, experienced in engineering, design and research.”