Three sixth graders from Mitchell Intermediate School in Texas were awarded second place in the grade 4-6 category at the 21st annual Toshiba/National Science Teacher Association ExploraVision program. Their project? A device called L.E.A.D.S. that allows veterinarians to diagnose Laminitis in horses.
Genna Childers, Sarah Kong, and Alice Zhang worked together along with their coach, Dawn Caldwell, to create the device. L.E.A.D.S. stands for Laminitis Equine Absolute Diagnosis System.
The clinical signs of Laminitis include lameness, inflammation, and increased temperature in the hooves. The girls created their own website about laminitis and their invention.
The L.E.A.D.S. device is a specially developed pad that is pressed into the bottom of the animal’s hoof to provide x-rays, venograms and radiography.
“There is a big difference between treating a disease and diagnosing it before it gets serious. If the symptoms of laminitis are detected earlier, the horse could have a better chance of survival. We really liked doing this project because it is a completely new way to help horses. The device would also have a camera so that you could send images to the veterinarian,” said Zhang.
When asked why they chose to focus on laminitis Childers said, “Well, I ride horses and my horse has laminitis. It is a big problem that we wanted to help with. There are famous horses, like Secretariat, that have died from the disease.”
Kong said that her favorite part about doing this project was being able demonstrate their invention through a video. “It was really fun because we got to visit Genna’s stable, we used the prototype on the horse, and took videos,” said Kong.
Along with seven other national finalists, the students presented their project at a Congressional Science fair in D.C.. Student teams demonstrated their prototypes and websites to members of Congress, including Rep. Kevin Brady.
“Genna, Alice and Sarah are very impressive students. If they’re already coming up with innovative ideas such as L.E.A.D.S, it’s obvious that all three have promising futures before them,” said Brady.
Here are the girls demonstrating how the L.E.A.D.S. device works:
Images:
YouTube