Collaborative Research: User-Optimal Robotic Prosthesis Design

这个合作研究项目的目标是开发方法来优化机器人踝足假体的功能，以满足个人用户的需求。该方法是开发人-假体相互作用的计算模型，使用它们来预测最优设备设计，并在多功能机器人试验台的实验工作中完善预测。将生成截肢者运动的详细肌肉骨骼仿真模型，该模型具有可调的用户特定属性。数值优化将被用来获得对特定用户最优的设计，并且对用户特征的微小变化具有健壮性。在测量人体能量使用、肌肉活动、身体力学和平衡的实验中，将向受试者展示一种“通用脚踝-脚假体仿真器”。实验结果将被用来生成具有高预测精度的模型。这项研究将产生一种经验性验证的软件工具，供临床医生用于为个别患者开出最佳假体设计处方。如果成功，这项研究的好处将是改善截肢患者的机动性和生活质量，这是通过一个软件工具来实现的，该工具指导用户优化的机器人脚踝假体的设计。例如，这项研究预计将量化更强大、但更重、更昂贵的电机的成本和收益之间的权衡，从而为个人用户提供最佳的产品设计。由此产生的设备预计将减少美国100多万截肢患者的步行速度、疲劳、跌倒和疼痛等慢性问题。这一方法和基础设施还有望在总体上改进生物机电一体化设计过程，例如改进康复机器人的设计。这项研究将为包括少数族裔、女性和残疾人在内的学生提供一个协作的、跨学科的环境。

The objective of this collaborative research project is to develop methods for optimizing robotic ankle-foot prosthesis function to the needs of individual users. The approach is to develop computational models of human-prosthesis interaction, use them to predict optimal device designs, and refine predictions in experimental work with a versatile robotic testbed. A detailed musculoskeletal simulation model of amputee locomotion, with tunable user-specific properties, will be generated. Numerical optimization will be used to obtain designs that are optimal for specific users and robust to small changes in user characteristics. Designs will be presented to human subjects with a "universal ankle-foot prosthesis emulator" in experiments that measure human energy use, muscle activity, body mechanics, and balance. Experimental results will be used to generate a model with high predictive accuracy. The research will result in an empirically-validated software tool for use by clinicians in prescribing optimal prosthesis designs to individual patients. If successful, the benefit of this research will be improved mobility and quality of life for individuals with amputation, achieved through a software tool that guides the design of user-optimal robotic ankle-foot prostheses. For example, the research is expected to quantify trade-offs between the costs and benefits of more powerful, but heavier and more expensive, motors, allowing optimal product design for individual users. The resulting devices are expected to reduce chronic problems with walking speed, fatigue, falls, and pain for more than 1 million people with lower-limb amputation in the United States. This methodology and infrastructure is also expected to improve biomechatronic design processes in general, for example improving the design of rehabilitation robots. The research will provide a collaborative, interdisciplinary environment for students, including minority, female, and disabled individuals.