Adaptive technology to play the piano

Project Overview

Mary loves to play the piano and the organ at her local church and in her community; however, Mary suffers from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is a long-term disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues. Mary has rheumatoid arthritis in her entire body and has constant pain in all of her joints. In September of 2011, Mary had a below-the-knee amputation on her right leg to address issues caused by the arthritis. She wears a prosthetic, but does not have pain in the stump. A knee replacement and a fused ankle are two other results of the RA for Mary. With the many limitations she has experienced, she is passionate to play the piano again. With the amputation of her right foot, a knee replacement, and a fused left ankle, there is a significant barrier for her to operate the three pedals on the piano. These piano pedals are foot-operated levers at the base of a piano which change the instrument¡¯s sound in various ways. The goal of this project is to create, fabricate, and implement a device to address her needs and allow her to return to her passion of playing the piano.