287 research outputs found
Mechatronic Design of a Lower Limb Exoskeleton
This chapter presents a lower limb exoskeleton mechatronic design. The design aims to be used as a walking support device focused on patients who suffer of partial lower body paralysis due to spine injuries or caused by a stroke. First, the mechanical design is presented and the results are validated through dynamical simulations performed in Autodesk Inventor and MATLAB. Second, a communication network design is proposed in order to establish a secure and fast data link between sensors, actuators, and microprocessors. Finally, patient‐exoskeleton system interaction is presented and detailed. Movement generation is performed by means of digital signal processing techniques applied to electromyography (EMG) and electrocardiography (EEG) signals. Such interaction system design is tested and evaluated in MATLAB whose results are presented and explained. A proposal of real‐time supervisory control is also presented as a part of the integration of every component of the exoskeleton
State of the Art Lower Limb Robotic Exoskeletons for Elderly Assistance
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8759880/keywords#keywordsThe number of elderly populations is rapidly increasing. Majority of elderly people face difficulties while walking because the muscular activity or other gait-related parameters start to deteriorate with aging. Therefore, the quality of life among them can be suffered. To make their life more comfortable, service providing robotic solutions in terms of wearable powered exoskeletons should be realized. Assistive powered exoskeletons are capable of providing additional torque to support various activities, such as walking, sit to stand, and stand to sit motions to subjects with mobility impairments. Specifically, the powered exoskeletons try to maintain and keep subjects' limbs on the specified motion trajectory. The state of the art of currently available lower limb assistive exoskeletons for weak and elderly people is presented in this paper. The technology employed in the assistive devices, such as actuation and power supply types, control strategies, their functional abilities, and the mechanism design, is thoroughly described. The outcome of studied literature reveals that there is still much work to be done in the improvement of assistive exoskeletons in terms of their technological aspects, such as choosing proper and effective control methods, developing user friendly interfaces, and decreasing the costs of device to make it more affordable, meanwhile ensuring safe interaction for the end-users
Advancements in Sensor Technologies and Control Strategies for Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Exoskeletons: A Comprehensive Review
Lower-limb rehabilitation exoskeletons offer a transformative approach to enhancing recovery in patients with movement disorders affecting the lower extremities. This comprehensive systematic review delves into the literature on sensor technologies and the control strategies integrated into these exoskeletons, evaluating their capacity to address user needs and scrutinizing their structural designs regarding sensor distribution as well as control algorithms. The review examines various sensing modalities, including electromyography (EMG), force, displacement, and other innovative sensor types, employed in these devices to facilitate accurate and responsive motion control. Furthermore, the review explores the strengths and limitations of a diverse array of lower-limb rehabilitation-exoskeleton designs, highlighting areas of improvement and potential avenues for further development. In addition, the review investigates the latest control algorithms and analysis methods that have been utilized in conjunction with these sensor systems to optimize exoskeleton performance and ensure safe and effective user interactions. By building a deeper understanding of the diverse sensor technologies and monitoring systems, this review aims to contribute to the ongoing advancement of lower-limb rehabilitation exoskeletons, ultimately improving the quality of life for patients with mobility impairments
Biomechatronics: Harmonizing Mechatronic Systems with Human Beings
This eBook provides a comprehensive treatise on modern biomechatronic systems
centred around human applications. A particular emphasis is given to exoskeleton
designs for assistance and training with advanced interfaces in human-machine
interaction. Some of these designs are validated with experimental results which
the reader will find very informative as building-blocks for designing such systems.
This eBook will be ideally suited to those researching in biomechatronic area with
bio-feedback applications or those who are involved in high-end research on manmachine interfaces. This may also serve as a textbook for biomechatronic design
at post-graduate level
Physical Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Technologies
The book focuses on the diagnosis, evaluation, and assistance of gait disorders; all the papers have been contributed by research groups related to assistive robotics, instrumentations, and augmentative devices
Physical human-robot collaboration: Robotic systems, learning methods, collaborative strategies, sensors, and actuators
This article presents a state-of-the-art survey on the robotic systems, sensors, actuators, and collaborative strategies for physical human-robot collaboration (pHRC). This article starts with an overview of some robotic systems with cutting-edge technologies (sensors and actuators) suitable for pHRC operations and the intelligent assist devices employed in pHRC. Sensors being among the essential components to establish communication between a human and a robotic system are surveyed. The sensor supplies the signal needed to drive the robotic actuators. The survey reveals that the design of new generation collaborative robots and other intelligent robotic systems has paved the way for sophisticated learning techniques and control algorithms to be deployed in pHRC. Furthermore, it revealed the relevant components needed to be considered for effective pHRC to be accomplished. Finally, a discussion of the major advances is made, some research directions, and future challenges are presented
Development of a hybrid robotic system based on an adaptive and associative assistance for rehabilitation of reaching movement after stroke
Stroke causes irreversible neurological damage. Depending on the location and the size of
this brain injury, different body functions could result affected. One of the most common
consequences is motor impairments. The level of motor impairment affectation varies between
post-stroke subjects, but often, it hampers the execution of most activities of daily living.
Consequently, the quality of life of the stroke population is severely decreased.
The rehabilitation of the upper-limb motor functions has gained special attention in the
scientific community due the poor reported prognosis of post-stroke patients for recovering
normal upper-extremity function after standard rehabilitation therapy. Driven by the advance
of technology and the design of new rehabilitation methods, the use of robot devices,
functional electrical stimulation and brain-computer interfaces as a neuromodulation system
is proposed as a novel and promising rehabilitation tools. Although the uses of these technologies
present potential benefits with respect to standard rehabilitation methods, there still
are some milestones to be addressed for the consolidation of these methods and techniques
in clinical settings.
Mentioned evidences reflect the motivation for this dissertation. This thesis presents the
development and validation of a hybrid robotic system based on an adaptive and associative
assistance for rehabilitation of reaching movements in post-stroke subjects. The hybrid
concept refers the combined use of robotic devices with functional electrical stimulation.
Adaptive feature states a tailored assistance according to the users’ motor residual capabilities,
while the associative term denotes a precise pairing between the users’ motor intent
and the peripheral hybrid assistance. The development of the hybrid platform comprised the
following tasks:
1. The identification of the current challenges for hybrid robotic system, considering twofold
perspectives: technological and clinical. The hybrid systems submitted in literature
were critically reviewed for such purpose. These identified features will lead the
subsequent development and method framed in this work.
2. The development and validation of a hybrid robotic system, combining a mechanical
exoskeleton with functional electrical stimulation to assist the execution of functional
reaching movements. Several subsystems are integrated within the hybrid platform,
which interact each other to cooperatively complement the rehabilitation task. Complementary,
the implementation of a controller based on functional electrical stimulation
to dynamically adjust the level of assistance is addressed. The controller is conceived to
tackle one of the main limitations when using electrical stimulation, i.e. the highly nonlinear
and time-varying muscle response. An experimental procedure was conducted
with healthy and post-stroke patients to corroborate the technical feasibility and the
usability evaluation of the system.
3. The implementation of an associative strategy within the hybrid platform. Three different
strategies based on electroencephalography and electromyography signals were
analytically compared. The main idea is to provide a precise temporal association between
the hybrid assistance delivered at the periphery (arm muscles) and the users’
own intention to move and to configure a feasible clinical setup to be use in real rehabilitation
scenarios.
4. Carry out a comprehensive pilot clinical intervention considering a small cohort of
patient with post-stroke patients to evaluate the different proposed concepts and assess
the feasibility of using the hybrid system in rehabilitation settings.
In summary, the works here presented prove the feasibility of using the hybrid robotic system
as a rehabilitative tool with post-stroke subjects. Moreover, it is demonstrated the adaptive
controller is able to adjust the level of assistance to achieve successful tracking movement
with the affected arm. Remarkably, the accurate association in time between motor cortex
activation, represented through the motor-related cortical potential measured with electroencephalography,
and the supplied hybrid assistance during the execution of functional (multidegree
of freedom) reaching movement facilitate distributed cortical plasticity. These results
encourage the validation of the overall hybrid concept in a large clinical trial including an
increased number of patients with a control group, in order to achieve more robust clinical
results and confirm the presented herein.Programa Oficial de Doctorado en Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y AutomáticaPresidente: Ramón Ceres Ruiz.- Secretario: Luis Enrique Moreno Lorente.- Vocal: Antonio Olivier
- …