I-CORPS: A Treadmill with Adjustable Stiffness with integrated measurement systems for rehabilitation applications

提议的产品跨越以下创新领域。新技术的发展：1-提出了一种新的方法来设计和制造一种可以控制行走面灵活性的跑步机方案。这种跑步机具有在纯垂直方向上双向调节表面刚度的能力，而不考虑人相对于跑步机的相对位置。采用强刚度调节电机，适当选择短杆，可以快速改变刚度。2-发展新的康复方法：理论驱动的康复方法的可行性将被证明，可以导致中风后患者成功的临床试验。跑步机集成了一个动作捕捉和能量消耗系统，可以提供有关患者表现的实时数据。这可以帮助治疗师快速找到患者的最佳调整。本研究通过引入调节行走面刚度的可能性，推动了运动康复领域的发展。截至2015年，美国有超过1820万人有行动障碍。其中以脑卒中后患者居多。在美国，每40秒就会发生一次中风，每年首次中风的总成本约为400亿美元。此外，近40%的65岁及以上的人有行走障碍。任何能够提高这些人群独立行动能力的康复方法，都将对他们的生活质量产生巨大影响，并减轻他们、他们的家庭、保险公司和政府的经济负担。该产品可以作为一个解决方案，以提高这些人在社区环境中的行走能力。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。

The proposed product spans the following innovation areas. Development of new technology: 1- Novel method is presented to design and fabricate a treadmill solution by which flexibility of the walking surface can be controlled. This treadmill has the ability to bilaterally adjust the surface stiffness in a purely vertical direction, regardless of the relative location of the person with respect to the treadmill. By using strong stiffness adjustment motors and properly selecting a short lever, the stiffness can be changed very quickly. 2- Development of new rehabilitation approach: feasibility of a theory-driven rehabilitation approach will be proven that can lead to successful clinical trials for after-stroke patients. The treadmill is integrated with a motion capture and energy consumption system that can provide real-time data regarding the performance of the patients. This can help a therapist to quickly find the optimal tuning for a patient. The proposed research advances the field of mobility rehabilitation through introducing the possibility of adjusting the stiffness of the walking surface. As of 2015, there are more than 18.2 million people with mobility impairment in the US. Among them, the majority are post-stroke patients. In the US, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds and the aggregate lifetime cost of first strokes is about $40 billion per year. In addition, nearly 40% of people age 65 and older have a walking disability. Any rehabilitation method that can enhance independent mobility of these populations would have a huge impact on their quality of life as well as reduce economic burden on the them, their families, insurance companies and the government. This product can be a solution to improve the walking capability of these people for community settings.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.