Robotic Hand Rehabilitation for Stroke Victims

A hand rehabilitation device

Description

Problem summary

The National Stroke Association estimates that 795,000 strokes will occur this year, and that there are 7,000,000 stroke survivors in the United States over age 20. Approximately 50% of stroke patients lose some form of motor control, often in the hand.

Robotic training is a new technology that shows great potential for application in neurorehabilitation as it has several advantages e.g., motivation, adaptability, data collection, and the ability to provide intensive individualized repetitive practice. Studies on robotic devices for the upper extremity rehabilitation after stroke have shown significant increases in upper limb function, dexterity and fine motor manipulations as well as improved proximal motor control.

Proposed Research

The HERRI hand rehabilitation system, developed at the Biomedical Mechatronics lab at Northeastern University, is composed of a 2-DoF robotic interface, virtual environment, practitioner’s graphical user interface (GUI), and the auxiliary control hardware/software. The patient manipulates the robotic hand interface just like a joystick to navigate in a virtual environment (i.e. maze game) while the robot applies force fields to the patient’s hand. The device is intended to aid motor recovery in post-stroke patients through repetitive and coordinated motions for task specific exercises.

To create a system that is feasible for market, a design team working in the Biomedical Mechatronics Lab at Northeastern University will develop the second generation prototype of the robotic upper extremity neurorehabilitation device. Necessary changes and updates to the system include a lower cost and simpler actuation system, new control software to accommodate the actuators, and handle redesign for better ergonomics, and the design of new games for improved user interface.

The team will focus first on a new actuation system, using electromechanical actuators to simplify the setup and reduce cost. Currently, the system is controlled by 2 electrorheological fluid actuators which interact with a user controlled handle. While this setup has excellent frequency response and little friction loss, it is an expensive system to implement, and should be redesigned to reduce size and cost.

In parallel to the actuator design, new designs for a more robust and ergonomic handle will be implemented to allow multiple hand rehabilitation exercises. Once the prototype is built, new controls will be implemented to allow assistive motion for flexion/extension of the hand and pronation/supination of the wrist.

Project outcome and impact of result

The outcome of this project will be an affordable, 2 DOF hand rehabilitation device, primarily for stroke patients but with potential to expand to orthopedic patients as well. Within 6 months, the team will have a functional prototype, beginning in July and having a completed prototype by December. Once the functional prototype is built, the device will be tested on healthy humans and patients in Spring 2013.

Since the device is non-intrusive nor attached to the user, it is inherently safe, and can be a viable option for market as a rehabilitation device in a home or clinical setting.

As a 2 DOF actuator, has potential not only in the field of rehabilitation, but could also serve as a valuable research tool for other applications in the game design, robotics, or medical fields.

Team

The design team will consist of 5 Mechanical Engineering students Northeastern University. They are advised by Dr. Constantinos Mavroidis and Dr. Paolo Bonato, both leaders in the mechatronics field, as well as Dr. Mark Sivak, an expert in interactive media who designed the GUI of the 1st generation HERRI system.

For any further questions, contact:

Dr. Constantinos Mavroidis

Distinguished Professor, Northeastern University

Director, Biomedical Mechatronics Laboratory at Northeastern University

mavro@coe.neu.edu

617-373-4121

References

http://www.robots.neu.edu/

Send a message Follow

Patrick J Murphy

BS/MS Student, Northeastern University Biomechatronics Laboratory

Northeastern University Biomechatronics Laboratory

Boston, MA , United States

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Rewards

$10: Thank you email

We will personally send a thank-you email to anyone who donates $10 or more to this project. The Thank you email will be personalized and is a genuine expression of my gratitude for supporting this project.

$20: Thank you letter

We will personally send a thank you letter on the letterhead of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Northeastern University University as expression of my gratitude for supporting this project. The thank-you letter will be addressed to you and include my signature.

$50: Laminated printout of project description

We will send you a 8x12 laminated color reprint of the project poster. This will describe the process of designing and building the prototype, as well as its functionality and capabilities. In addition, we will send a personal thank you letter on the letterhead of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at Northeastern university. The thank-you letter will be addressed to you and include my signature.

$100: How-to guide for the use of HERRI system

We will send you a how-to guide on how to use the HERRI system that we created in this project. The guide will include illustrations and examples as well as a brief FAQ. All will be delivered directly to your email with a personalized thank-you note.

$150: Personal lab tour

You will get a 1 hour guided tour of the Biomechatronics Lab at Northeastern University. The tour will start with an introduction to the research ongoing in the lab. It will continue with me showing the instruments and explaining the experiments currently underway. The tour dates will be set up at a mutually convenient time.

$500: Demonstration of completed prototype

Once the prototype is completed, we will give a personal demonstration of the device. We will introduce you to the device and it's capabilities, and we will answer any questions about the device. We will also give an introduction to other projects in the lab, and show the instruments that were used to complete the prototype.

$1000: Acknowledgement in peer-review publication and at all conferences/talks, as well as personal lab tour

We will put a formal acknowledgement in any peer-review publications, conference publications, or conference presentations that results from this project. The acknowledgement will read "We thank (insert name here) for supporting this research through a generous donation made through iAMscientists." We will also give a personal tour of the lab, starting with an introduction to the device and it's capabilities. The tour will continue with an introduction to other projects in the lab, as well as the instruments used to complete the prototype.

$3000: Acknowledgement in peer-review publication and at all conferences/talks, as well as loan of functional prototype

We will put a formal acknowledgement in any peer-review publications, conference publications, or conference presentations that results from this project. The acknowledgement will read "We thank (insert name here) for supporting this research through a generous donation made through iAMscientists." In addition, we will extend a 3 day loan period to the donor for experiments of their choosing in the Boston area. The loan will take place at a mutually convenient time.

$7000: A prototype of the HERRI system

Once the initial prototype is built and tested, we will build a prototype for all donors who give $5000. The final prototype will be a sensorized 2 DOF device capable of graphical interface. This device can be useful not only in rehabilitation, but in many other robotics research applications as well. The prototype will include the actuation system only, not the associated amplifiers and computer.