Development of an intelligent robotic knee device to support and monitor rehabilitation therapy for the ageing population with knee osteoarthritis

膝骨性关节炎是老年人慢性疼痛和残疾的主要原因之一。康复运动是减少骨性关节炎疼痛、改善膝关节功能和增加活动度的必要治疗方法。对于临床医生来说，能够监测运动过程中的某些信号，如负荷(重量)和运动，以便为每个患者制定个性化的康复计划，这一点很重要。目前，临床医生无法获得这些信号，他们必须使用问卷和简单的功能测试来评估练习的效果。这在很大程度上依赖于个人经验，而不是个性化的监测，因此患者往往得不到最好的治疗来满足他们的需求。本项目将开发一种膝关节装置来支持和监测康复，并为临床医生评估患者的康复进展提供科学依据。这将确保患者得到最佳的康复治疗，减轻疼痛，改善膝关节整体身体功能，防止残疾。患者将在康复锻炼和日常活动中佩戴该设备。该设备的实时反馈将使患者能够监控和管理他们的康复进度。物理治疗师可以通过分析从该设备收集的信号来远程调整锻炼计划，以满足患者的个人需求。患者还将从该设备获得实时肌肉支持，以帮助他们实现锻炼目标或进行步行、园艺或爬楼梯等日常活动。有了这款设备，老年人可以享受体育活动，活得更长，更有成就感。

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the leading causes of chronic pain and disability in older people. Rehabilitation exercise is an essential treatment to reduce osteoarthritis pain, improve knee function and increase mobility. It is important for clinicians to be able to monitor certain signals such as load (weight) and motion during the exercise, so that they can develop a personalised rehabilitation plan for each patient. Currently, clinicians have no access to these signals and they have to use questionnaires and simple functional tests to evaluate the effect of the exercises. This relies heavily on individual experience rather than personalised monitoring, so patients often do not receive the best treatment to meet their needs.This project will develop a knee device to support and monitor rehabilitation and provide scientific evidence for clinicians to evaluate the rehabilitation progress for their patients. This will ensure that patients get the best rehabilitation treatment which will relieve pain, improve overall physical knee function and prevent disability.Patients will wear the device during their rehabilitation exercises and daily activities. Real-time feedback from the device will enable patients to monitor and manage their rehabilitation progress. Physiotherapists can adjust the exercise programme remotely to meet the patients' individual needs by analysing signals collected from the device. Patients will also get real-time muscle support from the device to help them achieve exercise goals or do daily activities such as walking, gardening or climbing stairs. With this device, older people can enjoy physical activities, living longer and more fulfilling lives.