PFI-TT: Actuated Gloves for use in Assisted Training and Rehabilitation Programs

这项创新伙伴关系-技术翻译（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是创造一种手套，这种手套可以被动地教授用户新的手工技能，例如学习盲文或弹钢琴，并有助于中风或部分脊髓损伤等创伤性损伤后的康复。学习手工任务和康复是耗时的，学习/康复计划的依从率可能低于5%。被动触觉学习（PTL）手套通过全天刺激使用者的手指来教授任务的“肌肉记忆”，从而显着加速技能学习和康复。对于某些关键技能，这种加速学习可能是独立与依赖他人之间的区别。在康复中，动机是首要因素。许多传统疗法包括单调的练习，很快就被放弃了，但弹钢琴可以提高灵活性和精神健康。PTL手套既能直接提高手感和灵巧度，又能激励使用者继续康复。该项目设计了PTL手套硬件和支持软件，将被动学习整合到长期的手工技能训练和康复中。一个目标是使PTL手套舒适，易于用户或护理人员维护，负担低，易于脱下/脱下，每次使用2.5-3小时的电池寿命足够长，并且足够时尚，用户会戴上它们。第二个目标是创建自助服务门户网站，这样用户就可以下载新的学习或康复计划，并跟踪他们的进度。第三，该项目寻求建立适当的“黄金标准”（受控的、随机的）程序，用于几周或几个月的测试，可以推广到手工技能学习（盲文、钢琴等）和康复。这些程序将使用诸如用户对这些程序的遵守程度、与控制相比的改进速度（例如，根据任务的准确性、速度、感觉或痉挛）、用户对工作量的感知以及用户的偏好等指标进行优化。预期的结果包括给定任务（例如，钢琴，盲文打字）或条件（例如，笔画）的通用过程，硬件原型和支持基础设施足以进行长期测试，以及本研究解决的任务的公布结果。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 broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to create gloves that passively teach users new manual skills, such as learning to type Braille or playing piano, and aid in rehabilitation after traumatic injuries, such as stroke or partial spinal cord injury. Learning manual tasks and rehabilitation are time consuming, and learning/rehabilitation programs can have less than a 5% adherence rate. Passive Tactile Learning (PTL) gloves significantly accelerate skill learning and rehabilitation by stimulating the user’s fingers throughout the day to teach the “muscle memory” of tasks without the user’s attention. For some critical skills, this accelerated learning may be the difference between independence and reliance on others. In rehabilitation, motivation is a prime factor. Many traditional therapies involve monotonous exercises and are quickly abandoned, but playing piano can improve dexterity as well as mental well-being. PTL gloves both directly improve hand sensation and dexterity and inspire users to continue rehabilitation.The proposed project designs PTL glove hardware and support software to integrate passive learning into longer-term manual skill training and rehabilitation. One objective is making PTL gloves that are comfortable, are maintainable by users or caregivers, have low encumbrance, are easy to don/doff, have sufficient battery life for 2.5-3 hours of use per session, and are sufficiently fashionable that users will wear them. A second objective is creating self-service web portals such that users can download new study or rehabilitation programs and track their progress. Thirdly, the project seeks to establish appropriate “gold standard” (controlled, randomized) procedures for testing over weeks or months that can be generalized for manual skill learning (Braille, piano, etc.) and rehabilitation. These procedures will be optimized using metrics such as users’ adherence to these programs, speed of improvement compared to control (for example, accuracy, speed, sensation, or spasticity depending on the task), users’ perception of workload, and users’ preferences. Anticipated results include a generalized procedure for a given task (e.g., piano, Braille typing) or condition (e.g., stroke), hardware prototypes and support infrastructure sufficient for longer-term testing, and published results for tasks addressed by this research.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.