A simple upper limb rehabilitation trainer

Stroke is a leading cause of disability which can affect shoulder and elbow movements which are necessary for reaching activities in numerous daily routines. To maximize functional recovery of these movements, stroke survivors undergo rehabilitation sessions under the supervision of physiotherapists in healthcare settings. Unfortunately, these sessions may be limited due to staff constraints and are often labor-intensive. There are numerous robotic devices which have been developed to overcome this problem. However, the high cost of these robots is a major concern as it limits their cost-benefit profiles, thus impeding large scale implementation. This paper presents a simple and low cost interactive training module for the purpose of upper limb rehabilitation. The module, which uses a conventional mouse integrated with a small DC motor to generate vibration instead of any robotic actuator, is integrated with a game-like virtual reality system intended for training shoulder and elbow movements. Three games for the module were developed as training platforms, namely: Triangle, Square and Circle games. Results from five healthy study subjects showed that their performances improved with practice and time taken to complete the Triangle game was the fastest of the three

Development of a novel device for monitoring incentive spirometry performance

Lung atelectasis caused by shallow breathing patterns is common after cardiac, thoracic and upper abdominal surgeries. A common method used to address this problem is to encourage patients to perform breathing exercises using incentive spirometers in the postoperative period. However, to be effective, this procedure must be repeated regularly so that adequate lung volumes can be maintained to prevent atelectasis. Current models of single-use, low-cost incentive spirometers do not have features that can track and store data on breathing exercises. This makes it difficult to monitor patients’ breathing exercises effectively. We present here a device designed to be interfaced with the Spiro-ball incentive spirometer and programmed to monitor the incentive spirometry performance. Laboratory based validation performed indicate that there were no significant differences between the value obtained from the device and manual reading; p-value > 0.05 and root-mean-square error (RMSE) is 3.882. The device was able to retrieve and display pertinent data on incentive spirometry performance. It was also able to correctly track and register random sets of inspiration data through different dates and timelines. Being a separate entity which is reusable, it does not add to the cost of the single-use incentive spirometer

Robotic assessment modules for upper limb stroke assessment: Preliminary study

Conventional assessment scales are widely used to quantify motor performance in stroke survivors. Although they are widely used, there are several limitations with these assessment scales such as lack of repeatability, subjective, time-consuming and it depends on the ability of the trained physiotherapist. In contrast, robot-based assessments are highly repeatable, objective, and could potentially reduce assessment time. However, robotbased assessments are not as well established as conventional assessment scale and the correlation to conventional assessment scale is unclear. This study was to determine if there are any similarities in the movements between the proposed robotic assessment modules namely as Draw Square, Draw Diamond and Draw Circle and between the sequences, clockwise and counter clockwise on 10 male healthy subjects. Result shows that there are no similarities between each robotic assessment modules and between the sequences. All kinematic variables extracted from each robotic assessment modules can be used as benchmark for assessment purpose in stroke patient

Development of reconfigurable rehabilitation robot for post-stroke forearm and wrist training

Rehabilitation robots are gradually becoming popular for stroke rehabilitation to improve motor recovery, as robotic technology can assist, enhance, and further quantify rehabilitation training for stroke patients. However, most of the available rehabilitation robots are complex and involve multiple Degrees-Of-Freedoms (DOFs) causing it to be very expensive and huge in size. Rehabilitation robot needed to be useful but also should be cost-effective to be able to use in current rehabilitation process. This paper present the design of reconfigurable rehabilitation robot that able to adopt different training movement by changing the configuration of the device. The developed robotic system able to perform training for wrist, forearm and other functional rehabilitation training by using suitable modular units. Preliminary study with three stroke subject were presented to evaluate the functionality in different training modes for forearm and wrist rehabilitation training

Alteracao, alterabilidade e patrimonio cultural construido: O caso da Basilica da Estrela

Basilica da Estrela is the most famous monument of the XVIII century at Lisbon. It was built with Jurassic and Cretacic calcareous of Lisbon region. Basilica da Estrela stone decay study is presented. Samples have been taken from several quarries of Lisbon region, some of them in exploitation, others abandoned. Their technological characterization based mainly on chemical, mineralogical and petrographic studies was performed. Some mechanical, physical and accelerated ageing laboratory tests have been also carried out. Detailed survey of stone decay phenomena occurring at the monument was carried out in order to established the typology of the main monument stone weathering forms. Photographic recording and sampling of the weathering products (efflorescence and disintegrated rock material) were also made. The stone decay products were studied by means of stereomacroscope as well as X-ray diffraction and Ftir techniques. Digital processing and image analysis techniques were also used as non-destructive and contact-free methods to characterize surface weathering state of mega structures not-easily manipulated and located inside Basilica da Estrela. Historical and documental surveying of this monument was made with particular insight into the repair works performed in the past. The more deteriorated stone is the yellow variety of the Cretacic calcareous used as lining material on panels located inside of the church. The main weathering forms is granular desintegration and it is promoted by seepages through the roof and percolating water behind the panelsAvailable from Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, Servico de Informacao e Documentacao, Av. D. Carlos I, 126, 1249-074 Lisboa, Portugal / FCT - Fundação para o Ciência e a TecnologiaSIGLEPTPortuga