Two Singaporean inventors have made the James Dyson Award International Top 20 Shortlist

As Singaporeans, although we tend to squabble and complain over the most trivial of things, like how the guy queuing in front of us can't decide between black or white carrot cake, we're still quite proud of our local talents as much as the next guy. Building on that sentiment, we'd like to extend our congratulations to our young inventors John Tay and Koh Bei Ning, both of whom have made the James Dyson Award 2022 International Top 20 shortlist. 

Specifically, Tay's entry was Rehabit, a smart and intuitive rehabilitation tool designed to help stroke sufferers reacquire their muscle memory. It consists of four different products that aim to encourage upper-limb movement, including shoulder inner and outer rotation, forearm pronation and supination, wrist flexion and extension, and finger extension.

The young inventor worked on the project with his father, a former stroke patient, in an effort to address some of the inefficiencies he identified with the current system. According to Tay, patients are only scheduled to attend therapy sessions once or twice a week, and on top of being ill-equipped for patients to practice moving against friction, a caretaker needs to be present to facilitate the session. 

With these issues in mind, he developed Rehabit to help fill in the gap between patients' therapy sessions and to provide an effective yet independent means of movement practice. In addition to the variety of modes as noted above, the simplicity of the tool removes the need for a caretaker to be in attendance, and the range of accelerometer-based exercises helps keep the tool engaging and fun for users. 

Meanwhile, Koh's invention, the Rollerball Itch Relief is targeted at people who suffer from atopic dermatitis, or, as it is more commonly known, eczema. As someone who also suffered from it, Koh wanted to create a way to help eczema patients "scratch" the itch without damaging their already-fragile skin. After much research and experimentation, this was her solution - a textured roller ball that recreates the sensation of scratching by stimulating the nerve endings in the skin. 

To provide some medical context, eczema patients are often encouraged by doctors not to pick at their skin to prevent tearing and subsequent infection, but the sensation often becomes so awful that they end up doing so regardless. Now, that last bit is functionally why Koh's invention is so impressive - by providing a way for these patients to relieve the itch without actually damaging the skin, the body is now able to actually begin healing itself in earnest. So, despite the unfortunate truth that eczema is usually a chronic condition, these poor souls can at least find some relief with the Rollerball. 

For more information on the James Dyson Award 2022 and the other finalists, head over to the official JDA 2022 page.

Also, find out more about the winning entries from last year.

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