Intelligent Task Assist Device for Motor Control in Cerebral Palsy

描述(由申请人提供)：目标是设计、制造和临床评估一种智能设备，PediActive，以帮助脑瘫(CP)的上肢运动控制。患有偏瘫的CP儿童通常有上肢损害，包括迟缓、虚弱、运动不协调和痉挛。PediActive应该通过在日常生活活动中用功能性电刺激(FES)自动补充人剩余的自愿运动控制来增强功能。PediActive应该提供仅凭自愿控制无法实现的功能水平。用户将不需要学习新的控制算法。相反，用户只会尝试完成一项任务。PediActive将检测受试者的运动意图，并自动向目标肌肉提供刺激以帮助完成任务。儿童活动最终应该帮助CP受试者完成日常生活活动，从而增加独立性和社会参与。虽然完成功能性任务的能力在慢性阻塞性肺病中可能会受到影响，但上肢运动和肌肉激活模式在尝试任务时可能会非常重复。PediActive将利用这些模式自动检测用户意图。因此，提出的PediActive将利用可穿戴式传感和刺激技术来自动调节FES并改善功能。用户穿的衬衫或袖子将嵌入表面肌电(EMG)电极、运动传感器和刺激器单元。该系统将记录肌电和运动数据，以确定用户的运动意图。然后，运动、协调模式和/或肌电水平将被用作输入，以训练神经网络以将适当水平的FES输出到特定的上肢肌肉。具体地说，PediActive将自动检测用户何时尝试手臂伸展或手抓握，并将FES应用于目标肌肉以帮助完成任务。PediActive将成为一种改善脑瘫儿童上肢功能的辅助设备。该系统将被训练成自动检测用户何时尝试一项任务，并向目标肌肉提供刺激，以帮助受试者完成任务。该系统应帮助受试者完成日常生活活动，从而增加他们的独立性和社会参与度。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective is to design, build, and clinically assess an intelligent device, the PediActive, to assist upper extremity motor control in cerebral palsy (CP). Children with hemiplegic CP often have upper extremity impairments including slowness, weakness, uncoordinated motion, and spasticity. The PediActive should enhance function by automatically complimenting a person's remaining voluntary motor control with functional electrical stimulation (FES) during activities of daily living. The PediActive should provide levels of function unachievable with only voluntary control. The user will not need to learn a new control algorithm. Instead, the user will simply attempt to complete a task. The PediActive will detect subject motion intention and automatically supply stimulation to target muscles to assist the task. The PediActive should ultimately aid CP subjects in completing activities of daily living thereby increasing independence and societal participation. While the ability to complete functional tasks can be compromised in CP, upper extremity motion and muscle activation patterns as they attempt tasks can be quite repeatable. The PediActive will take advantage of these patterns to automatically detect user intention. Therefore, the proposed PediActive will utilize wearable sensing and stimulating technology to automatically modulate FES and improve function. A user worn shirt or sleeve will be embedded with surface electromyography (EMG) electrodes, kinetic sensors, and a stimulator unit. The system will record EMG and kinetic data to determine user movement intention. Movements, coordination patterns, and/or EMG levels will then be used as inputs to train a neural network to output an appropriate level of FES to specific upper extremity muscles. Specifically, the PediActive will automatically detect when a user is attempting arm reach or hand grasp and apply FES to target muscles to assist the task. The PediActive will be an assistive device to improve upper extremity function in children with cerebral palsy. The system will be trained to automatically detect when a user is attempting a task and supply stimulation to target muscles to help the subject complete the task. The system should help subjects complete activities of daily living, thereby increasing their independence and societal participation.