Yanko Design: A Knee-t Crutch on Wheels...

From MIT press office:

The implementation began last summer, when Winter launched his first trial in East Africa with collaboration from the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya. He and Mario Bollini ‘09, Danielle DeLatte ‘11, Benjamin Judge ‘11 and Harrison O’Hanley ‘11, spent a month in Kenya building eight prototypes of the LFC. Each chair cost slightly less than $200 to make, which Winter said is roughly the price of a regular wheelchair in Kenya. Weighing about 65 pounds, or five to 10 pounds more than a regular wheelchair, the LFC was customized for the trial participants, who range in age and live near varied terrain in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Winter returned to Africa with MIT senior Tish Scolnik four months later to interview the participants and test the efficiency of the LFC for each user.

What they learned from the “phenomenal feedback” is that although the LFC is more efficient than a regular wheelchair for plowing through mud and over big stones, it is still too wide and heavy. Winter will make the chair lighter by lowering the seat four inches and shifting the wheels back two inches, which will eliminate the need for the bulky mounting brackets that are currently used to attach the rear wheels to the chair.

In addition to reducing the width and weight, Winter will focus on improving the LFC for indoor use so that it functions just as well as a normal wheelchair when the levers are removed. He uses the desk chair/mountain bike analogy to describe how the LFC is intended to be used all day. Although someone might spend many hours each day sitting in a desk chair, it would be horrible to use that chair to commute to work, especially if the commute involved dirt roads. Similarly, while the mountain bike would be great for the commute, it would be awkward and uncomfortable to sit on all day at the office.

With the trial results, guidance from manufacturing collaborators and help from a group from his design class, Winter will use the IADB grant to design a new prototype and produce about 30 chairs for another trial that will begin in August in Guatemala. One crucial goal of the trip is to develop the manufacturing equipment that will be used to build the chairs for large-scale production, which Winter hopes will begin in 2011.

More from MIT: New wheelchair gets its first real-world test...

In their energy-recycling foot, the engineers put the wasted walking energy to work enhancing the power of ankle push-off. The foot naturally captures the dissipated energy. A microcontroller tells the foot to return the energy to the system at precisely the right time.

Based on metabolic rate measurements, the test subjects spent 14 percent more energy walking in energy-recycling artificial foot than they did walking naturally. That's a significant decrease from the 23 percent more energy they used in the conventional prosthetic foot, Kuo [Art Kuo, professor of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering] says.

"All prosthetic feet store and return energy, but they don't give you a choice about when and how. They just return it whenever they want," Kuo said. "This is the first device to release the energy in the right way to supplement push-off, and to do so without an external power source."

Other devices that boost push-off power use motors and require large batteries.

Because the energy-recycling foot takes advantage of power that would otherwise be lost, it uses less than 1 Watt of electricity through a small, portable battery.

Video of the device and relevant links after the fold:

Initially, we are presenting our Bebionic adult sized, multi jointed hand and wrist, together with the associated control and power components and an advanced cosmetic skin.

To give you a bit more information about the range it includes an adult sized hand that is fully articulating and features 4 grip patterns (key grip, power grip, pinch grip and finger point). The hand is controlled in a similar way to other myo-electric hands currently available: A user operates their prosthesis using controlled muscle contraction. Electronics measure electrical changes on the skin covering the control muscles and command individual actuators in the hand to provide the desired movements. Integrated electronics monitor movement of the mechanical elements, ensuring that their motion is smooth and co-ordinated. Operation becomes instinctive once the user has been properly trained to optimise performance. In-house designed software will allow the hand to be customised to each individual user.

The range will also include the world's first powered wrist combining 135 degrees rotation and 35 degrees of both flexion/extension and an advanced silicone skin which will be available in 19 colours with excellent definition and custom fitted nails.

Press release: Bebionic Pre-Launch World Premier ...

From the study abstract:

Thirty subjects without lower limb pathology performed a combination of single and double leg standing balance tests with eyes open or closed on two separate occasions. Data from the WBB were acquired using a laptop computer. The test–retest reliability for COP path length for each of the testing devices, including a comparison of the WBB and FP data, was examined using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Bland–Altman plots (BAP) and minimum detectable change (MDC). Both devices exhibited good to excellent COP path length test–retest reliability within-device (ICC = 0.66–0.94) and between-device (ICC = 0.77–0.89) on all testing protocols. Examination of the BAP revealed no relationship between the difference and the mean in any test, however the MDC values for the WBB did exceed those of the FP in three of the four tests. These findings suggest that the WBB is a valid tool for assessing standing balance. Given that the WBB is portable, widely available and a fraction of the cost of a FP, it could provide the average clinician with a standing balance assessment tool suitable for the clinical setting.

Abstract in Gain & Posture: Validity and reliability of the Nintendo Wii Balance Board for assessment of standing balance

Image credit: serafini

(hat tip: NewScientist)

The three study participants were asked to exercise the affected hand about 30 minutes a day, five days a week using a specially fitted sensor glove linked to a remotely monitored videogame console installed in their home. Games, such as one making images appear ("sliders") were custom-developed at Rutgers, calibrated to the individual teen's hand functionality, included a screen avatar of the hand, and focused on improvement of whole hand function.

"Popular off-the-shelf games are targeted to people with normal hand and arm function and coordination. These games don't work for or benefit those with moderate-severe hemiplegic cerebral palsy and many other disorders that affect movement. They just aren't made to be used by or improve hands that can't pinch or grasp" said Golomb [Dr. Meredith R. Golomb, Indiana University School of Medicine associate professor of neurology].

In the future, physical therapists could remotely monitor patients' progress and make adjustments to the intensity of game play to allow progressive work on affected muscles.

Press release: Virtual reality tele-rehab improves hand function

Abstract in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation: In-Home Virtual Reality Videogame Telerehabilitation in Adolescents With Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy

Here's Engadget's video:

More from Engadget...

The video below explains the advantages and demonstrates the use of hands-free EMG over traditional buttons and controllers to manipulate device settings.

More at Microsoft Research: Muscle-Computer Interfaces...

Patent applications at USPTO: RECOGNIZING GESTURES FROM FOREARM EMG SIGNALS; WEARABLE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY-BASED CONTROLLERS FOR HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERFACE

(hat tip: TechFlash via Engadget)

From NYT:

Doug Bourgoyne has been trying the Compas system for the last few months at the Raymond G. Murphy V.A. Medical Center in Albuquerque, where he is clinical supervisor of the orthotics and prosthetics laboratory. The metal plate looks like a standard metal plate used within a prosthesis, he said, “but it is smarter.”

The plate has silicon strain gauges to measure forces going through the prosthesis, said David Boone, the chief technology officer at Orthocare, and electronics to convert the information to digital form and memory so measurements can be stored.

The diagnostic module that is attached to the plate in the prosthesis during office visits contains a laser to project a line on the floor as the patient walks, and a gyroscope that measures the rotation of the limb, Dr. Boone said. Each module can be used with multiple patients.

Here's a fairly involved video demonstrating the use of the system:

Read on at the New York Times...

Product page: Compas...

“In this project we were trying to develop a low-cost virtual-environment based glove system that can be used for motor retraining of the arm, hand, fingers and thumb in patients who have suffered a stroke,” Holden said. “The idea … is to keep the cost low enough and the features simple enough that patients can afford to buy one and use it independently in their homes.”

Sivak noted that stroke patients often couldn’t continue with physical therapy, either because they can’t drive to the location or it’s too expensive. “With the glove, the idea is to create an affordable, at-home mechanism to help them regain fine motor skills.”

It works through a series of sensors to provide resistance in hand exercises. The glove is wired to a computer, which displays virtual reality games that sync to hand exercises, Sivak said, explaining that the games add an element of fun to the therapy.

Press release: Helping hands

Photo by Craig Bailey/Northeastern