CAREER: Restoring Musculoskeletal Function by Designing Implantable Passive Mechanisms

1554739 Balasubramania这个项目设计了微型可植入机构，用于在整形外科手术中将肌肉连接到肌腱和骨骼上。植入物采用被动机制的形式，如软腱网络、滑轮和连杆。外科医生不是使用缝线将肌肉直接连接到肌腱和骨骼上，而是可以使用被动植入物来重新布线和重新安排患者肌腱在关节处产生运动的方式。通过这样做，植入物能够利用患者自己的肌肉增加关节的力量或运动范围，而不需要使用任何外部电源或电子设备。总体而言，这些植入物使新的手术成为可能，与目前基于缝合的手术范例相比，这些手术为患者提供了改进和定制的操作和运动功能。在影响方面，该项目有望改善残疾人、老年人和退伍军人的生活质量，导致生物材料和生物伦理学等相关领域的新研究，并导致新的医疗器械。该研究在量化了当前基于缝合的手术范例中出现的运动缺陷后，为此类植入机制的设计开发了一个框架。特别是，该项目开发了两种外科应用的植入物：一种将力量和运动从一块肌肉差异分配到多条肌腱，用于手部手术，以恢复正中尺神经瘫痪后的抓取能力；以及一种植入物，可扩大力量，用于足部手术，恢复坍塌的足弓。这些植入物将通过生物力学模拟、人体和动物身体实验以及活体动物实验进行验证。该项目将这项研究与广泛的教育活动相结合。具体地说，该项目使用实际操作的开源硬件和软件创建新的课程，以培训中学、高中、本科、研究生和教师级别的下一代领导人，了解人体运动的机制，并使用机器人来改进人体运动。该项目还包括在包容和平等的文化中增加妇女和代表不足的少数群体在STEM领域的参与的外联方案。

1554739BalasubramanianThis project designs miniature implantable mechanisms for attaching muscles to tendons and bone in orthopedic surgery. The implants take the form of passive mechanisms, such as soft tendon networks, pulleys, and linkages. Instead of directly attaching muscles to tendons and bone using sutures, a surgeon can use the passive implants to re-route and re-arrange how a patient's tendons create movement at the joint. By doing so, the implants enable increased force or range of motion at a joint using the patient's own muscles and without using any external power or electronics. Overall, the implants enable new surgeries that provide the patient improved and customized manipulation and locomotion function when compared with the current suture-based surgical paradigm. In terms of impact, this project is expected improve quality of life for the disabled, seniors, and veterans, lead to new research in allied areas such as biomaterials and bioethics, and lead to new medical devices.The research develops a framework for the design of such implantable mechanisms after quantifying the movement deficits that arise in the current suture-based surgical paradigm. In particular, this project develops implants for two surgical applications: an implant that differentially distributes forces and movement from one muscle to multiple tendons for use in a hand surgery to restore grasping capability following median-ulnar nerve palsy; and an implant that scales up forces for use in a foot surgery to restore the collapsed foot arch. The implants will be validated through biomechanical simulations, human and animal cadaver experiments, and live-animal experiments. This project integrates this research with extensive educational activities. Specifically, this project creates new curricula using hands-on open source hardware and software to train the next generation of leaders at the middle-school, high-school, undergraduate, graduate, and teacher levels in understanding the mechanics of human body movement and using robotics to improve human body movement. The project also includes outreach programs to increase participation of women and under-represented minorities in the STEM fields within a culture of inclusivity and equality.