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

这一创新-技术翻译伙伴关系项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是创造一种手套，被动地教会用户新的手工技能，如学习盲文打字或弹钢琴，并帮助中风或部分脊髓损伤等创伤后的康复。学习手动任务和康复是耗时的，学习/康复计划的坚持率可能低于5%。被动触觉学习（PTL）手套通过全天刺激用户的手指，在用户不注意的情况下教授任务的“肌肉记忆”，从而显著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和依赖他人之间的区别。在康复过程中，动机是一个首要因素。许多传统的治疗方法涉及单调的练习，很快就被放弃了，但弹钢琴可以提高灵活性和精神健康。PTL手套既能直接改善手部感觉和灵活性，又能激励使用者继续康复。拟议项目设计PTL手套硬件和支持软件，将被动学习融入长期的手工技能训练和康复。一个目标是制造舒适的PTL手套，其由使用者或护理人员维护，具有低摩擦，易于穿戴/佩戴，具有每次使用2.5-3小时的足够电池寿命，并且足够时尚以使使用者佩戴它们。第二个目标是创建自助服务门户网站，使用户可以下载新的学习或康复计划，并跟踪他们的进展。第三，该项目寻求建立适当的“黄金标准”（受控、随机）程序，用于数周或数月的测试，可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坚持、与控制相比的改进速度（例如，取决于任务的准确性、速度、感觉或痉挛）、用户对工作量的感知和用户偏好等指标来优化。预期的结果包括用于给定任务的一般化过程（例如，钢琴、盲文打字）或条件（例如，中风），硬件原型和支持基础设施足以进行长期测试，并公布了本研究所解决的任务的结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.