Acquisition of a Self-Balancing Powered Exoskeleton for Mobility and Physical Rehabilitation

项目摘要/摘要 NJIT及其研究和临床合作者迫切需要更深入地了解 外骨骼辅助运动(EAL)过程中人与机器人的交互作用。为了满足这一需求，该提案 要求提供资金，以获得一种自我平衡、免提的下肢外骨骼，并测试其效果 一种促进神经系统疾病患者功能独立的装置。这样做的长期目标是 工作是使机器人外骨骼能够无缝集成在家里和社区使用，恢复机动性 神经疾病患者的生活质量与健全的同龄人不相上下。 尽管机器人外骨骼具有巨大的潜力，但目前的设备还不能安全地修复 神经功能障碍患者的活动能力。这在很大程度上是因为机器人的外骨骼 康复是相对较新的，商业设备接受食品和药物管理局(FDA) 过去七年的批准(2014年的ReWalk，2016年的Indego和Ekso)。对机器人日益增长的需求 外骨骼暴露了安全和持续使用的两个关键障碍：1)人类-机器人的界限 EAL期间的表现并未得到很好的理解，因为在受控实验室环境下的经验数据 不存在或对研究界不可用；以及2)很难且昂贵得令人望而却步 进行必要的实验，以系统地表征EAL过程中人-机器人的性能。在……里面 此外，目前在美国使用的所有三种FDA批准的设备都需要手持拐杖或 沃克。这排除了一部分患有神经功能障碍的人群，他们没有足够的控制力或 他们怀中的力量。拐杖/助行器还限制了用户可以从事的活动的强度和范围 而在机器人外骨骼中，限制这种辅助设备的用途以重新获得功能独立性 和生活质量。 获得自我平衡的免提外骨骼将极大地加强正在进行的研究 由美国国立卫生研究院和其他联邦机构资助。这些跨学科的研究项目范围很广， 包括实验室环境中的受控实验，以获得关于人类-机器人的基本知识 外骨骼中的相互作用，开发特定于对象的EAL虚拟模拟器，了解 EAL以改善患者群体的步态特征和功能独立性，并开发虚拟 培训弱势群体使用外骨骼的现实平台。总的来说，这些项目将提供 加速机器人外骨骼集成亟需的经验数据和技术发展 适用于家庭和社区使用。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT There is a strong need at NJIT and its research and clinical collaborators to develop a deeper understanding of human-robot interaction during exoskeletal-assisted locomotion (EAL). To address this need, the proposal requests funding to acquire a self-balancing, hands-free lower extremity exoskeleton and test the efficacy of this device to promote functional independence in people with neurological disorders. The long-term goal of this work is to enable robotic exoskeletons to integrate seamlessly for in-home and community use, restoring mobility and quality of life of individuals with neurological disorders on par with their able-bodied peers. Although robotic exoskeletons have tremendous potential, current devices fall short of safely restoring mobility in individuals with neurological disorders. This is in large part because robotic exoskeletons for rehabilitation are relatively new, with commercial devices receiving Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals in the past seven years (ReWalk in 2014, Indego and Ekso in 2016). The growing demand for robotic exoskeletons has exposed two critical barriers to safe and sustained use: 1) the bounds of human-robot performance during EAL are not well-understood because empirical data under controlled laboratory settings do not exist or are not available to the research community; and 2) it is difficult and prohibitively expensive to conduct the necessary experiments to characterize systematically human-robot performance during EAL. In addition, all three FDA-approved devices currently used in the United States require hand-held crutches or a walker. This excludes a subset of population with neurological disorders who do not have adequate control or strength in their arms. The crutches/walker also limit the intensity and range of activities a user can engage in while in the robotic exoskeleton, limiting the utility of such assistive devices to regain functional independence and quality of life. The acquisition of the self-balancing, hands-free exoskeleton would greatly strengthen on-going research funded by the NIH and other federal agencies. These interdisciplinary research projects span a large range, including controlled experiments in laboratory settings to acquire fundamental knowledge about human-robot interaction in exoskeletons, developing subject-specific virtual simulators of EAL, understanding the efficacy of EAL to improve gait characteristics and functional independence in patient populations, and developing virtual reality platforms for training vulnerable populations in exoskeleton use. Collectively, these projects will provide the much-needed empirical data and technology developments to accelerate integration of robotic exoskeletons for in-home and community use.