CAREER: Novel human-in-the loop approach to increase locomotor learning.

康复机器人的一个主要问题是，在日常生活中，也就是说，当患者不使用训练设备时，无法观察到机器人设备训练后的运动改善。机器人训练的有限效果可能是由于患者使用该设备时经历的非自然人机交互。这个教师早期职业发展（Career）项目研究了机器人辅助的运动学习在有和没有脑损伤的人群中的应用。目的是通过确定如何最大限度地从训练到非训练条件的学习泛化来提高中风后有效的步态康复。PI还将利用该项目的研究目标作为一种手段，以增加来自代表性不足的少数民族（URM）的学生参与科学和工程。具体来说，该项目将招募、指导和培养从K-12到大学的URM学生接受高等教育，最终目标是拓宽URM学生的职业机会。双腿以不同的速度运动的劈带行走，已被证明可以诱导中风后患者和没有神经损伤的受试者进行运动学习。在这里，PI将决定是否可以改变这两个种群的分叉带跑步机上的学习阶段，以增强从跑步机学习到自然行走的运动的泛化。这项研究使用了一种“人在环”的方法，通过操纵受试者感知到的步态对称性，来制造出在分带行走过程中没有错误表现的错觉。通过这种闭环方法，PI旨在确定增强在跑步机上学习到的运动到非跑步机条件的泛化的方法。如果成功，该项目可能会对中风后的步态康复程序产生变革性影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A major issue in rehabilitation robotics is the fact that motor improvements following training with a robotic device are not observed in daily life, that is, when patients are not using the training device. This limited efficacy of robotic training is possibly due to unnatural human-machine interactions experienced when patients use the device. This Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program project investigates robot-assisted motor learning in people with and without brain lesions. The aim is to improve effective gait rehabilitation after stroke by determining how to maximize generalization of learning from trained to untrained conditions. The PI will also use the research objectives in this project as a means to increase the participation of students from underrepresented minorities (URM) in science and engineering. Specifically, the PI will recruit, mentor, and prepare URM students from K-12 and college to pursue advanced education, with the ultimate goal of broadening the professional opportunities for URM students. Split-belt walking, during which the legs move at different speeds, has been shown to induce locomotor learning in post-stroke patients and subjects without neurological damage. Here the PI will determine if the learning phase on the split-belt treadmill in these two populations can be altered to enhance the generalization of learned movements from the treadmill to natural walking. The research uses a human-in-the-loop method that manipulates a subject's perceived gait symmetry to create the illusion of error-free performance during split-belt walking. Through this closed-loop approach, the PI aims to identify ways to enhance the generalization of movements learned on the treadmill to non-treadmill conditions. If successful, the project could have a transformative effect on procedures for gait rehabilitation after stroke.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.