ERC-Small Business: Virtual Coach for Home-based Neuro-robotic Therapy

卡内基梅隆大学Sieworek这项努力是生活质量技术(QOLT)中心和Myomo之间的合作，该中心自2006年以来一直是NSF工程研究中心(ERC)，Myomo是ERC的小企业合作伙伴。Myomo一直在美国领先的医院开发和测试神经机器人设备。生活质量技术中心一直在开发一种名为虚拟教练的技术，以指导锻炼，鼓励一般体力活动，并确保正确使用辅助技术。拟议合作的目标是使治疗师能够在虚拟环境中为他们的患者提供支持，即通过使用基于计算机的代理人而无需实际在场。这一虚拟教练将补充另一种有希望的方法-神经机器人疗法，帮助患者重新学习如何使用自己的肌肉信号移动部分瘫痪(偏瘫)的手臂。这个项目有两个目标。翻译研究的目标是专门化QOLT虚拟教练技术，以实现神经机器人治疗的监控和报告能力。Myomo将把由此产生的虚拟教练原型商业化，从而扩大其产品线，包括其新的mPower硬件设备系列的宝贵配套软件。探索性研究的目标是让虚拟教练更具自主性，即通过自我调整治疗方案和在锻炼过程中对患者的非语言暗示做出反应等功能，使其表现得更像人类治疗师。智力价值这项研究解决了基于计算机的指导中的重大挑战，即设计以预定方式影响人类行为的算法。很难预测人们会对命令、指示、提示和奖励作何反应。有些人对教养的反应很好，而另一些人对命令的反应更好。此外，特定的个人可能会在日常生活中做出不同的反应。为了成为一个可行的、普遍的解决方案，虚拟教练设备需要根据他们服务的人的心理进行自我调整。这项研究还解决了为本身可能没有技术倾向的用户设计人类与复杂技术之间的互动的挑战。这与最有利于老年人的产品尤其相关，老年人通常是最不熟悉电脑、互联网、智能手机等的人之一，有时还会被电脑、互联网、智能手机等吓倒。更广泛的影响中风发生在2.9%的美国成年人中，每年有近80万新发或复发病例。神经肌肉损伤是一种常见的后果，可以通过适当的治疗来克服。该项目将产生的新产品将减少部分面对面治疗的需要，将需要更少的合格护理提供者的时间，并有可能降低中风患者的治疗总成本。

ABSTRACT1128614Carnegie Mellon UniversitySieworek This effort is a collaboration between the Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center, an NSF Engineering Research Center (ERC) since 2006, and Myomo, a small business partner of the ERC. Myomo has been developing and testing neuro-robotic devices in leading US hospitals. The Quality of Life Technology (QoLT) Center has been developing a technology called Virtual Coach to coach exercises, to encourage general physical activity, and to ensure proper use of assistive technologies. The goal of the proposed collaboration is to enable therapists to provide support to their patients in a virtual context, i.e., without actually being present, through the use of computer-based surrogates. This Virtual Coach will complement another promising approach, neuro-robotic therapy, that helps patients re-learn how to move partially paralyzed (hemi-paretic) arms using their own muscle signals. This project has two objectives. The translational research objective is to specialize QoLT Virtual Coach technology to realize a neuro-robotic therapy monitoring and reporting capability. Myomo will commercialize the resulting Virtual Coach prototype, thereby broadening its product line to include valued companion software for its new line of mPower hardware devices. The exploratory research objective is to make the Virtual Coach more autonomous, i.e., to have it behave more like a human therapist through functions like self-adjusting the therapeutic regimen and responding to non-verbal cues from the patient during exercise sessions. Intellectual MeritThe research addresses the significant challenge in computer-based coaching of devising algorithms that affect human behavior in an intended way. It is difficult to predict how people will react to commands, instructions, prompts and rewards. Some people respond well to nurturing, while others respond better to commands. In addition a particular individual may respond differently from day-to-day. To be a viable, pervasive solution, Virtual Coach devices will need to tune themselves to the psychology of the people they serve. The research also addresses the challenge of designing interactions between humans and sophisticated technologies for users who themselves may not be technologically inclined. This is particularly relevant for products that would most benefit older adults, who are generally among the least versed in, and sometimes intimidated by, computers, the Internet, smartphones, etc Broader Impact Stroke occurs in 2.9% of the US adult population and there are nearly 800,000 new or recurring cases annually. Neuromuscular impairment is a common consequence that can be overcome with appropriate therapy. The new product that will result form this project will alleviate some of the need for face-to-face therapy sessions, will require less time from qualified care providers, and potentially lower the total cost for therapy for stroke victims.