A Design Methodology for Development of Clinically Compliant Upper Limb Spasticity Part-Task Trainer

芝浦工業大学201

Computer modelling and experimental design of a gait orthosis for early rehabilitation of walking

Walking is a fundamental human activity [1]. Rehabilitation of walking is one of the essential goals for patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) or other neurological impairments [2, 3]. Early rehabilitation is desirable to maximise the beneficial effects, so training programmes should be initiated even when patients are still on bed rest. In order to promote early rehabilitation of patients with incomplete spinal cord injury who cannot maintain an upright posture, a Gait Orthosis for Early Rehabilitation (GOER) of walking was designed [2] and evaluated in this PhD work. This research started with a gait analysis experiment, through which the kinematics and kinetics of overground walking were investigated. Based on experimental walking data from able-bodied subjects, a least squares algorithm was developed to approximate the foot trajectories with circles. The determination of the best-fit circle for the toe trajectory over the whole gait cycle provided the basis for inducing toe movement by a rigid bar. Therefore a model of a two-bar mechanism was developed in Matlab/SimMechanics to simulate supine stepping. The simulated kinematics, including the angles of the hip, knee and ankle joints, showed comparable ranges of motion (ROMs) to the experimental walking performance in able-bodied subjects. This two-bar model provided the basis for the development of the GOER system. The intersegmental kinetics of the lower limb motion during supine stepping were investigated through computer simulation. A model of a leg linkage was firstly developed to simulate upright walking. After the model was validated by successful simulation of dynamic performance similar to experimental overground walking, the model was rotated by 90o to simulate stepping movement in a supine posture. It was found that the dynamics of the hip joint were significantly influenced by the position change from upright to supine, which highlighted the importance of a leg-weight support during supine stepping. In contrast, the kinetics of the ankle joint were much influenced by the forces applied on the foot sole which mimicked the ground reaction occurring during overground walking. Therefore a suitable force pattern was required on the foot sole in order to train the ankle joint during supine stepping. The simulated kinematic and kinetic results provided the basis for the design process of the GOER system. A GOER prototype with mechanisms for one leg was manufactured, which included a bar linkage to move the leg frame upwards and downwards and a cam-roller mechanism to rotate the shoe platform. The bar-cam GOER prototype achieved coordinated movements in the leg frame through constant rotation of an electric motor. Preliminary tests were carried out in three able-bodied subjects who followed the movements produced by the GOER prototype. The subjects felt walking-like stepping movement in the lower limb. Synchronised motion in the hip, knee and ankle joints was obtained, with the ROMs in the physiological ranges of motion during overground walking. The experimentally obtained joint profiles during supine stepping matched the simulated supine stepping and were close to the profiles during overground walking. Apart from inducing proprioceptive feedback from the lower limb joints, the GOER system required dynamic stimulation from the shoe platform to mimic load occurring during the stance phase of overground walking. Activated by pneumatic components, the shoe platform managed to apply forces on the foot sole with adjustable amplitudes. The pneumatic shoe platform was evaluated in ten able-bodied subjects and managed to induce walking-like pressure sensation on the foot sole with physiological responses from the leg muscles. In summary, this thesis developed and evaluated a new gait training robotic system targeting supine stepping for patients who are still restricted to a lying position. The conceptual design process was developed through computer modelling and it was implemented as a prototype. Evaluation tests on able-bodied subjects proved the technical feasibility of the robotic system for supine stepping and led to recommendations for further development

Usability of Upper Limb Electromyogram Features as Muscle Fatigue Indicators for Better Adaptation of Human-Robot Interactions

Human-robot interaction (HRI) is the process of humans and robots working together to accomplish a goal with the objective of making the interaction beneficial to humans. Closed loop control and adaptability to individuals are some of the important acceptance criteria for human-robot interaction systems. While designing an HRI interaction scheme, it is important to understand the users of the system and evaluate the capabilities of humans and robots. An acceptable HRI solution is expected to be adaptable by detecting and responding to the changes in the environment and its users. Hence, an adaptive robotic interaction will require a better sensing of the human performance parameters. Human performance is influenced by the state of muscular and mental fatigue during active interactions. Researchers in the field of human-robot interaction have been trying to improve the adaptability of the environment according to the physical state of the human participants. Existing human-robot interactions and robot assisted trainings are designed without sufficiently considering the implications of fatigue to the users. Given this, identifying if better outcome can be achieved during a robot-assisted training by adapting to individual muscular status, i.e. with respect to fatigue, is a novel area of research. This has potential applications in scenarios such as rehabilitation robotics. Since robots have the potential to deliver a large number of repetitions, they can be used for training stroke patients to improve their muscular disabilities through repetitive training exercises. The objective of this research is to explore a solution for a longer and less fatiguing robot-assisted interaction, which can adapt based on the muscular state of participants using fatigue indicators derived from electromyogram (EMG) measurements. In the initial part of this research, fatigue indicators from upper limb muscles of healthy participants were identified by analysing the electromyogram signals from the muscles as well as the kinematic data collected by the robot. The tasks were defined to have point-to-point upper limb movements, which involved dynamic muscle contractions, while interacting with the HapticMaster robot. The study revealed quantitatively, which muscles were involved in the exercise and which muscles were more fatigued. The results also indicated the potential of EMG and kinematic parameters to be used as fatigue indicators. A correlation analysis between EMG features and kinematic parameters revealed that the correlation coefficient was impacted by muscle fatigue. As an extension of this study, the EMG collected at the beginning of the task was also used to predict the type of point-to-point movements using a supervised machine learning algorithm based on Support Vector Machines. The results showed that the movement intention could be detected with a reasonably good accuracy within the initial milliseconds of the task. The final part of the research implemented a fatigue-adaptive algorithm based on the identified EMG features. An experiment was conducted with thirty healthy participants to test the effectiveness of this adaptive algorithm. The participants interacted with the HapticMaster robot following a progressive muscle strength training protocol similar to a standard sports science protocol for muscle strengthening. The robotic assistance was altered according to the muscular state of participants, and, thus, offering varying difficulty levels based on the states of fatigue or relaxation, while performing the tasks. The results showed that the fatigue-based robotic adaptation has resulted in a prolonged training interaction, that involved many repetitions of the task. This study showed that using fatigue indicators, it is possible to alter the level of challenge, and thus, increase the interaction time. In summary, the research undertaken during this PhD has successfully enhanced the adaptability of human-robot interaction. Apart from its potential use for muscle strength training in healthy individuals, the work presented in this thesis is applicable in a wide-range of humanmachine interaction research such as rehabilitation robotics. This has a potential application in robot-assisted upper limb rehabilitation training of stroke patients

Special oils for halal and safe cosmetics

Three types of non conventional oils were extracted, analyzed and tested for toxicity. Date palm kernel oil (DPKO), mango kernel oil (MKO) and Ramputan seed oil (RSO). Oil content for tow cultivars of dates Deglect Noor and Moshkan was 9.67% and 7.30%, respectively. The three varieties of mango were found to contain about 10% oil in average. The red yellow types of Ramputan were found to have 11 and 14% oil, respectively. The phenolic compounds in DPKO, MKO and RSO were 0.98, 0.88 and 0.78 mg/ml Gallic acid equivalent, respectively. Oils were analyzed for their fatty acid composition and they are rich in oleic acid C18:1 and showed the presence of (dodecanoic acid) lauric acid C12:0, which reported to appear some antimicrobial activities. All extracted oils, DPKO, MKO and RSO showed no toxic effect using prime shrimp bioassay. Since these oils are stable, melt at skin temperature, have good lubricity and are great source of essential fatty acids; they could be used as highly moisturizing, cleansing and nourishing oils because of high oleic acid content. They are ideal for use in such halal cosmetics such as Science, Engineering and Technology 75 skin care and massage, hair-care, soap and shampoo products

Smart Sensors for Healthcare and Medical Applications

This book focuses on new sensing technologies, measurement techniques, and their applications in medicine and healthcare. Specifically, the book briefly describes the potential of smart sensors in the aforementioned applications, collecting 24 articles selected and published in the Special Issue “Smart Sensors for Healthcare and Medical Applications”. We proposed this topic, being aware of the pivotal role that smart sensors can play in the improvement of healthcare services in both acute and chronic conditions as well as in prevention for a healthy life and active aging. The articles selected in this book cover a variety of topics related to the design, validation, and application of smart sensors to healthcare

Medical Robotics

The first generation of surgical robots are already being installed in a number of operating rooms around the world. Robotics is being introduced to medicine because it allows for unprecedented control and precision of surgical instruments in minimally invasive procedures. So far, robots have been used to position an endoscope, perform gallbladder surgery and correct gastroesophogeal reflux and heartburn. The ultimate goal of the robotic surgery field is to design a robot that can be used to perform closed-chest, beating-heart surgery. The use of robotics in surgery will expand over the next decades without any doubt. Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) is a revolutionary approach in surgery. In MIS, the operation is performed with instruments and viewing equipment inserted into the body through small incisions created by the surgeon, in contrast to open surgery with large incisions. This minimizes surgical trauma and damage to healthy tissue, resulting in shorter patient recovery time. The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the state-of-art, to present new ideas, original results and practical experiences in this expanding area. Nevertheless, many chapters in the book concern advanced research on this growing area. The book provides critical analysis of clinical trials, assessment of the benefits and risks of the application of these technologies. This book is certainly a small sample of the research activity on Medical Robotics going on around the globe as you read it, but it surely covers a good deal of what has been done in the field recently, and as such it works as a valuable source for researchers interested in the involved subjects, whether they are currently “medical roboticists” or not

Evaluaciones utilizadas en investigaciones de tecnología de asistencia : Estado de arte.

El propósito del trabajo de grado ¿Estado de arte: Evaluaciones utilizadas en las investigaciones de tecnología de asistencia¿ fue identificar, analizar e interpretar los artículos en tecnología de asistencia, en relación con las evaluaciones, al no encontrarse una recopilación que diera cuenta de los contenidos y tendencias en el tema de investigación, para guiar a los profesionales de diferentes disciplinas en el proceso de prestación de servicios en tecnología de asistencia. Se propuso un estudio cualitativo, de tipo exploratorio, con diseño de investigación documental a 12 meses, llevado cabo en 8 bases de datos disponibles de la Universidad del Valle: EBSCO, DOAJ, SCIENCE, Springer Link, IEEE, Wiley Journals, Pubmed, ISI web of Science. Para lo anterior se elaboró un marco teórico dando referencia a conceptos del tema de investigación: discapacidad, tecnología de asistencia (TA), Modelo de la Actividad Humana: Tecnología de Asistencia (HAAT), Modelo Persona- Tecnología (MPT), Clasificación Internacional del Funcionamiento de la Discapacidad y la Salud (CIF), Modelo de Evaluación de la Prestación de Servicios en Tecnología de Asistencia (ATA), Prestación de servicios en Tecnología de Asistencia, evaluaciones, entre otros. Se evidenciaron tendencias en materia de investigación, determinando necesidades futuras que consolidan un marco de conocimientos sobre el tema, con el análisis de 134 artículos, la mayoría obtenidos de la base de datos EBSCO, publicados en 97 revistas, comprendidas en 50 áreas de conocimiento, en 27 países. A partir de estos artículos se recopilaron 274 evaluaciones utilizadas en las investigaciones en tecnología de asistencia