22,347 research outputs found
Smart Walker Solutions for Physical Rehabilitation
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Empowering and assisting natural human mobility: The simbiosis walker
This paper presents the complete development of the Simbiosis Smart Walker. The device is equipped with a set of sensor subsystems to acquire user-machine interaction forces and the temporal evolution of user's feet during gait. The authors present an adaptive filtering technique used for the identification and separation of different components found on the human-machine interaction forces. This technique allowed isolating the components related with the navigational commands and developing a Fuzzy logic controller to guide the device. The Smart Walker was clinically validated at the Spinal Cord Injury Hospital of Toledo - Spain, presenting great acceptability by spinal chord injury patients and clinical staf
Online estimation of rollator user condition using spatiotemporal gait parameters
Assistance to people during rehabilitation has to be adapted to their needs. Too little help can lead to frustration and stress in the user; an excess of help may lead to low participation and loss of residual skills. Robotic rollators may adapt assistance. The main challenge to cope with this issue is to estimate how much help is needed on the fly, because it depends not only on the person condition, but also on the specific situation that they are negotiating. Clinical scales provide a global condition based estimation, but no local estimator based on punctual needs. Condition also changes in time, so clinical scales need to be recalculated again and again. In this paper we propose a novel approach to estimate users’ condition in a continuous way via a robotic rollator. Our work focuses on predicting the value of the well known Tinetti Mobility test from spatiotemporal gait parameters obtained from our platform while users walk. This prediction provides continuous insight on the condition of the user and could be used to modify the amount of help provided. The proposed method has been validated with 19 volunteers at a local hospital that use a rollator for rehabilitation. All volunteers presented some physical or mental disabilities. Our results sucessfully show a high correlation of spatiotemporal gait parameters with Tinetti Mobility test gait (R2 = 0.7) and Tinetti Mobility test balance (R2 = 0.6).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
Fall Prediction and Prevention Systems: Recent Trends, Challenges, and Future Research Directions.
Fall prediction is a multifaceted problem that involves complex interactions between physiological, behavioral, and environmental factors. Existing fall detection and prediction systems mainly focus on physiological factors such as gait, vision, and cognition, and do not address the multifactorial nature of falls. In addition, these systems lack efficient user interfaces and feedback for preventing future falls. Recent advances in internet of things (IoT) and mobile technologies offer ample opportunities for integrating contextual information about patient behavior and environment along with physiological health data for predicting falls. This article reviews the state-of-the-art in fall detection and prediction systems. It also describes the challenges, limitations, and future directions in the design and implementation of effective fall prediction and prevention systems
Smart sensing and AI for physical therapy in IoT era
It is well known that medical spending increase with disability status. Per capita
spending for people with five or more limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) is nearly
five times the amount incurred by those with limitations in only one instrumental activities of
daily living (IADLs). Physical therapy is the way to improve the motor capabilities however it
takes a lot of time, it requires physiotherapists services, is often painful and the outcome are
evaluated in subjective way. New technologies including smart sensors were adopted in
healthcare including wearable solutions for cardiac and respiratory activity monitoring and
successfully are contributing to reduce the costs of services. In the case of motor activity and
particularly in physical rehabilitation the developments are still reduced the physical therapy
services are using as hardware mechanical equipment without sensing, embedded processing
and internet connectivity that significatively reduce the possibility to measure and evaluate the
physical training outcomes in objective way. In this paper the disruptive solutions for physical
therapy are presented that are based on hot technologies such as smart sensors, IoT, virtual
reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), and artificial intelligence (AI). Applied AI may conduct to
develop models, classifiers (gait classification) and short term or medium term prediction of
physical therapy outcomes. Highly motivation of the patients under physical rehabilitation can
be increased promoting serious game characterized by VR and MR scenariosinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Persons with Disabilities Seeking Employment and Public Transportation: Findings from a New Jersey Survey
Over a seven month period in 2010-2012, the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey conducted a survey of persons with disabilities in New Jersey who were actively searching for employment. The purpose of the survey was to identify key transportation-related issues -- with an emphasis on those related to public transit use -- hindering respondent job search and employment opportunities. The brief discusses how transportation is a prominent factor in the job search process and presents an overview of survey findings as they relate to public transit availability, usage, importance, and satisfaction among the approximately 500 survey respondents
Assistive mobility devices focusing on smart walkers : classification and review
In an aging society it is extremely important to develop devices, which can support and aid the elderly in their daily life. This demands means and tools that extend independent living and promote improved health.
Thus, the goal of this article is to review the state of the art in the robotic technology for mobility assistive devices for people with mobility disabilities. The important role that robotics can play in mobility assistive devices is presented, as well as the identification and survey of mobility assistive devices subsystems with a particular focus on the walkers technology. The advances in the walkers’ field have been enormous and have shown a great potential on helping people with mobility disabilities. Thus it is presented a review of the available literature of walkers and are discussed major advances that have been made and limitations to be overcome
Design considerations of ASBGo++ (Plus Plus) Smart Walker
The development of a gait disorder leads to the loss of the ability to walk and may cause dependence of others in daily life, which is a major determinant in life quality. Thus, devices that provide mobility assistance and ambulatory daily exercises are essential for the health and life quality of such individuals. The ASBGo Smart Walker is an academic project aimed to create a medical solution for rehabilitation of patients with
gait disorders. Based on the acquired know-how, the physicians, physiotherapist and patients’ feedback, a new prototype, named ASBGo++ (Plus Plus) was developed, mechanically and electronically improved. This paper will focus on the proposed mechanical, design and ergonomic considerations, enhancing the positive aspects of this smart walker and emphasizing the features that are most highlighted in its design, structure, and functionality.This work is supported by the FCT –
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia
– with the reference project UID/
EEA/04436/2013, by FEDER funds through
the COMPETE 2020 – Programa Operacional
Competitividade e Internacionalização
(POCI) – with the reference
project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006941.
In addition, acknowledgement of the
paper prior publication at the ICARSC
2016 conference proceedings.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Healthcare Robotics
Robots have the potential to be a game changer in healthcare: improving
health and well-being, filling care gaps, supporting care givers, and aiding
health care workers. However, before robots are able to be widely deployed, it
is crucial that both the research and industrial communities work together to
establish a strong evidence-base for healthcare robotics, and surmount likely
adoption barriers. This article presents a broad contextualization of robots in
healthcare by identifying key stakeholders, care settings, and tasks; reviewing
recent advances in healthcare robotics; and outlining major challenges and
opportunities to their adoption.Comment: 8 pages, Communications of the ACM, 201
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