L2M-NSERC - Development of a Wearable Distributed Mechatronic System: Applications in Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation of the Upper Limb

L2M-NSERC - 可穿戴分布式机电系统的开发：在上肢肌肉骨骼康复中的应用

• 批准号: 580659-2023
• 负责人: Trejos, AnaLuisaAL
• 金额: $ 1.46万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Idea to Innovation
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=751978
• 关键词: L2M; NSERC; Development; Wearable; Distributed

Millions of people worldwide suffer from musculoskeletal disorders or injuries. Wearable robotic devices are being developed to improve musculoskeletal rehabilitation by allowing the patient to perform exercises and activities of daily living at home. However, wearable robotic devices are still far from ideal, as they are bulky and heavy. Hence, there is a strong need to create new technologies to reduce the bulk weight problem. The approach being explored in this work is to distribute the weight of the hardware components on different joints and muscles, instead of locating all of them on one part of the body. This results in a new challenge: how to distribute the tasks among several modules (both software and hardware) that together, will support the motion of the upper limb? As a solution, tasks will be distributed over six types of modules that consist of sensors and units for collecting and processing the data from several muscles and joints of the upper limb, machine learning algorithms to define if anomaly in the movements exists, and decision units paired with actuators that will take the best actions required for the correct upper body movement. The focus of this work will be to develop the modules for assisting people with shoulder and arm injury. When a patient is prescribed rehabilitative exercises, they tend to use alternative motions (known as compensatory motions), such as forward leaning or torso rotation, to reach a target. Thus, the first objective is to design a module to automatically detect and classify compensatory motions. The second objective is to design a module to provide feedback to the patient if the compensatory motion is detected. To this end, a strategy to provide force (known as force feedback) for supporting the joints and muscles of the upper limb will be developed. The third objective focuses on bringing all of the modules together into a physical garment to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed distributed wearable mechatronic device. The outcome of the project will be a series of modules distributed throughout the upper limb, thereby reducing the bulk weight problem. Considering the improvement in the weight distribution over the upper limb, the proposed design has the potential to be used in a home setting.

全世界数百万人患有肌肉骨骼疾病或受伤。正在开发可穿戴机器人设备，以通过允许患者在家中进行锻炼和日常生活活动来改善肌肉骨骼康复。然而，可穿戴机器人设备仍然远未达到理想状态，因为它们体积庞大且笨重。因此，迫切需要创造新的技术来减少体积重量问题。这项工作中正在探索的方法是将硬件组件的重量分布在不同的关节和肌肉上，而不是将它们全部定位在身体的一个部位。这就带来了一个新的挑战：如何在多个模块（软件和硬件）之间分配任务，这些模块将共同支持上肢的运动？作为一种解决方案，任务将分布在六种类型的模块上，这些模块包括用于收集和处理来自上肢几个肌肉和关节的数据的传感器和单元，用于定义运动中是否存在异常的机器学习算法，以及与执行器配对的决策单元，这些执行器将采取正确的上身运动所需的最佳行动。这项工作的重点将是开发帮助肩部和手臂受伤者的模块。当患者被规定进行康复锻炼时，他们倾向于使用替代运动（称为补偿运动），例如前倾或躯干旋转，以达到目标。因此，第一个目标是设计一个模块来自动检测和分类补偿运动。第二个目标是设计一个模块，如果检测到补偿运动，则向患者提供反馈。为此，将开发一种提供力（称为力反馈）以支撑上肢关节和肌肉的策略。第三个目标的重点是把所有的模块一起到一个物理服装，以评估所提出的分布式可穿戴机电一体化设备的可行性。该项目的成果将是分布在整个上肢的一系列模块，从而减少体积重量问题。考虑到上肢重量分布的改善，所提出的设计有可能在家庭环境中使用。