Rehab Archive

Monday, May 5, 2008

Walking Assistant From Honda

Perfect for integrating a fanny-pack Last October we discovered that Honda of Japan is developing a novel walking assistance device, but the details of its functionality were hazy. Finally the company is revealing more and taking the device on the road. Apparently Honda has managed to translate some of their research from the super-awesome (or is that super-creepy?) ASIMO into a "walking assistant device" for the gait-impaired (but still somewhat capable of walking on their own). We'll let Honda PR describe how it works...

The cooperative control technology utilized for this device is a unique Honda innovation achieved through the cumulative study of human walking just as the research and development of technologies was conducted for Honda's advanced humanoid robot, ASIMO. Applying cooperative control based on the information obtained from hip angle sensors, the motors provide optimal assistance based on a command from the control CPU. With this assist, the user's stride will be lengthened compared to the user's normal stride without the device and therefore the ease of walking is achieved.
The compact design of the device was achieved with flat brushless motors and a control system developed by Honda. In addition, a simple design to be worn with a belt around the hip and thigh was employed to help achieve overall weight as light as approximately 2.8kg. As a result, the device reduces the user's load and can be fit to different body shapes.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Fluidhand: Prototype Prosthetic Device

Fluidhand (pictured above), a new prosthetic device currently developed as a prototype, is being tested at the Orthopedic University Hospital in Heidelberg. In addition to being softer and more natural than other conventional hand prosthetic devices, it allows the user to fully wrap around and grip objects while providing feedback to give the amputee a sense of the strength of the grip. An 18 year old patient at the hospital was the first person in the world to test and compare the Fluidhand to the i-LIMB (previously covered by Medgadget here, and pictured to the right) and a second patient is soon to be fitted with the new prosthesis.

Unlike its predecessors, the new hand can close around objects, even those with irregular surfaces. A large contact surface and soft, passive form elements greatly reduce the gripping power required to hold onto such an object. The hand also feels softer, more elastic, and more natural than conventional hard prosthetic devices.

The flexible drives are located directly in the movable finger joints and operate on the biological principle of the spider leg - to flex the joints, elastic chambers are pumped up by miniature hydraulics. In this way, index finger, middle finger and thumb can be moved independently. The prosthetic hand gives the stump feedback, enabling the amputee to sense the strength of the grip

Press Release: A new prosthetic hand is being tested at the Orthopedic University Hospital in Heidelberg / Grip function almost like a natural hand

We'd like to welcome Rohit Joshi, a medical student at McMaster University in Canada, as an associate editor of Medgadget, this being his first post in the role.

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Friday, April 25, 2008

VitalJacket: Heart Monitoring Shirt

In an attempt to make heart monitoring less visible and bulky for individuals requiring continuous monitoring of their heart, BioDevices, SA, has a unique solution. The company has developed a T-shirt which continuously monitors heart rate and ECG waves. This is an ideal solution for elderly patients and has a lot of potential for fitness applications as well.

The Vital Jacket® is a wearable vital signs monitoring system that joins textiles with microelectronics. It was designed and developed to be a usable pragmatic approach for different clinical and normal life scenarios, in hospitals, home or on the move, that need continuous or frequent high quality vital signs monitoring from the patient or healthy subject. The concept was designed and specified based on the long tradition on biomedical instrumentation and telemedicine of the IEETA institute of the University of Aveiro, Portugal (www.ieeta.pt/sias).
The Vital Jacket® HWM mobile device is an intelligent wearable garnment that is able to continuous monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) wave and Heart Rate for different fitness, high performance sports, security and medical applications.

There are currently two versions, HWM100 that stores data on a SD memory card for posterior analysis in a PC and, HWM200 that allows on-line visualization using a smartphone/PDA.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Mind Reading for Robotic Limb Control

Japanese scientists are continuing to push for a cyborg future, as researchers at Osaka University are attaching electrode sensors directly to the human brain, to study how the electrical activity can be interpreted to operate mechanical devices.

The aim of the research is to develop real-time mind-controlled robotic limbs for the disabled, according to an announcement made at an April 16 symposium in Aichi prefecture.
Although brain waves can be measured from outside the scalp, a stronger, more accurate signal can be obtained by placing sensors directly on the brain — but that requires open-skull surgery, making it more difficult to recruit volunteer test subjects.

The researchers, who have filed a license application with the Osaka University Hospital ethics board, are working to enlist willing subjects already scheduled to have brain electrodes implanted for the purpose of monitoring epilepsy or other conditions. The procedure, which does not involve puncturing the cortex, places an electrode sheet at the central sulcus, a fold across the center of the brain near the primary motor cortex (which is responsible for planning and executing movements).

More at the Pink Tentacle...

Original Japanese language article in Asahi...

Asahi article translated by Babelfhish...

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Friday, April 18, 2008

Ergoskin Shirt Concept for Posture Correction

Designer Talia Elena Radford Cryns won Austria's National Design Award, the "Adolf Loos Staatspreis Design", for the Ergoskin concept shirt. The garment would be able to detect the wearer's posture and signal back to correct it. The idea is indeed intriguing, as the main problem with correcting one's postures is having to keep the issue in mind.

"HAL, I've fallen and I can't get up. HAL, are you there?"

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a robot to assist the elderly living at home alone. The machine is capable of using a stethoscope, calling for an ambulance, and facilitating video calls with a doctor.

Grupen helped develop uBOT-5 in response to the growing crisis faced by the U.S. medical system as almost 78 million baby boomers begin joining the 65-and-older crowd during the next three decades.
He noted that it costs about $65,000 to build a single robot in the lab, but told LiveScience that manufacturers have said it might cost only a "couple of thousand" to mass-produce the automatons. A part-time, human in-home caregiver can cost more than $1,500 per week.

Aside from its life-saving abilities, uBOT-5 can also remind people to take their medication, pick up packages and do some cleaning and shopping. It can even administer virtual house calls from doctors using a Web cam, microphone, touch-sensitive LCD screen and Internet connection — tools that Grupen said clients should find other uses for.

More at the LiveScience...

(hat tip: Gizmodo)

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Thursday, April 3, 2008

Palmtop Computing Helps Autistics Communicate

Canada's CTV News is reporting on how autistic children at the Bloorview Kids Rehab, a teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Toronto, are using special software on Pocket PC-like devices to more comfortably communicate with people around them. There is no information in the article regarding who the developer of the software is, nor where one can obtain a copy.

"This device has a number of settings that contain pictures and words and an alphabet board," said Bloorview's Margaret Ettorre, a speech-language therapist. "So if he clicks 'school' and 'is it time for' it will speak that whole question."
The Palmtop has a word-prediction function that gives Kayle a list of possible words after he types the first three letters. He can click on the right one and move on, which allows him to communicate more quickly.

It also has words and phrases that correspond with his favourite foods, people he knows and places he frequents.

Now that Kayle has a way to express himself, his behavior has improved.

"Before, he would do a lot of circling the room, do destructive things," said Coutie. "Now he can tell us. And the keyboard is the important part."

To read more about the technology, check out this story published by Bloorview Kids Rehab.

Monday, March 31, 2008

ReWalk Exoskeleton

Another day, another exoskeleton. Designed to help paraplegics to walk again, ReWalk™ is the product of Israeli company Argo Medical Technologies, Ltd. Massachusetts based SolidWorks Corp, whose 3D CAD software was used to develop the device, is reporting about the exoskeleton:

An innovative alternative to wheelchairs designed in SolidWorks® 3D CAD software lets paralyzed people do what was previously considered impossible: stand, walk, and climb stairs.
Designed by Israeli consultancy Taga for medical device company Argo Medical Technologies, Ltd., the ReWalk exoskeleton is a light, wearable brace support suit featuring DC motors at the joints, rechargeable batteries, an array of sensors, and a computer-based control system. Users wear a backpack device and braces on their legs, and select the activity they want from a remote control. A sensor on the chest determines the torso’s angle and guides the legs to move forward or backward to maintain balance.

“There are a lot of challenges to design something that imitates a human walking, including universal fit for a broad range of user height and weight measurements, as well as a low profile that is both contemporary and user friendly,” said Assaf Barel, design engineer at Taga. “SolidWorks enabled us to be creative in addressing all of these challenges. The finished product is strong, compact, lightweight, and works like a human body.”

Taga standardized on SolidWorks for all new product development, including a range of medical, consumer, and equipment products for customers like General Electric, Phillips, and Comverse. Taga used SolidWorks to design the ReWalk based on a rough prototype from its inventor, Dr. Amit Goffer. SolidWorks gave engineers the time and capability to discover innovative approaches to translating the original prototype into a working model.

SolidWorks simplified design iterations and helped ensure accuracy as engineers constantly refined concepts to accommodate variables such as leg brace length, joint angle range, and the amount of pressure the joints can withstand. SolidWorks’ mass properties functionality enabled Taga engineers to see exact weight calculations as they designed the exoskeleton to be light enough to maneuver. COSMOSXpress™ allowed engineers to test the strength and durability of different load-bearing components to ensure the exoskeleton would hold up when users bend, stand up, and climb stairs.

All of Taga’s subcontractors use SolidWorks software, which, along with eDrawings® e-mail-enabled design communication tool, makes collaboration easy and smooth. Having teams work on native file formats also reduces costly and time-consuming errors.

The ReWalk exoskeleton is currently undergoing clinical trials. Taga expects it to be ready for general availability in 2009.

To learn more about the device, head to the product page of ReWalk™...

Press release: ReWalk exoskeleton helps paraplegics walk...

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Monday, March 24, 2008

Medgadgets for Walking Rehabilitation, Peace in Mideast

If anything will create goodwill in the Middle East, it would probably be projects like the SoM-ToUR (Thrive on Unique Road) shoes from Step of Mind, Ltd for people with cerebral palsy.

Product page: SoM-ToUR...

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Scientists Describe New Method for Modeling Strain

Investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Florida International University have developed a technique called Scan and Solve that can pinpoint areas of weakness on physical objects. This novel, noninvasive stress analysis technique, with a future potential for a variety of biomedical applications, is touted as a method that is "faster, simpler and easier" for modeling strain in both inanimate and human structures.

The National Science Foundation explains:

Vadim Shapiro of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Igor Tsukanov of Florida International University and their colleagues will present their latest results from their Scan and Solve technique at the International Conference on Computational and Experimental Engineering and Sciences in Honolulu, Hawaii.
"This research is likely to result in a breakthrough technology for performing direct engineering analysis on physical artifacts in situ (in place)," said Shapiro, director of the Spatial Automation Laboratory at his university.

Scan and Solve takes 3-D sampled or scanned data of an object and calculates where points of weakness occur and how those points will be affected by forces acting on them, such as gravity in the case of David or activity in the case of a human bone.

"These calculations are simple and painless, allowing for the exploration of many potential solutions for fixes in areas where fractures might occur," said Shapiro.

3-D data sets are now commonplace, whether from medical analyses conducted in doctors' offices across the country or laser scans used to capture complex shapes like the Hatcher Triceratops skeleton at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Engineers can capture datasets for almost anything, even enormous structures, because the techniques can often be used to scan an object in place without the need to transport the object to a laboratory.

The breakthroughs developed by the researchers and their collaborators over the last decade builds upon the realization that the data provides, for any object, a detailed field map that can be represented as a weighted sum of various distances from a given point.

"Unlike existing analysis techniques that can be error prone and require models that take far longer to create, Scan and Solve compresses the entire analysis into a series of automated, efficient steps," says Michael Freytag, whose doctoral thesis details the Scan and Solve approach.

In their analysis of Michelangelo's David, the researchers were able to predict the stresses that the statue endures on a daily basis by using the Scan and Solve software with original shape data.

The analysis matched well with the statue's known crack damage, indicating that the method could help archivists by serving as a predictor for what areas of an ancient artifact may need to be bolstered to prevent damage, even if the statue has not yet shown fatigue.

The same approach could work for a bone or car part or any other heavily used component, potentially aiding engineers as they develop protections for those objects...

Now that digitized data are becoming commonplace, the researchers see Scan and Solve as a new way to bring the power of software-driven engineering tools such as computer-aided design to art, architecture, medicine and other systems that have not benefited from engineering analysis in the past.

"Combining Scan and Solve with medical imaging technology can set a new mark in personalized medicine, for example, by introducing stress analysis into orthopedic clinics and allowing personalized assessment of implant fit, positioning, bone quality and patient activity," concluded Tsukanov.

NSF: Tell Them Where it Hurts...

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Laser-Guided Robot Helps the Disabled

By Susan Jacobs

Georgia Tech's Center for Healthcare Robotics has recently developed a robot that assists disabled people around the house. Called the "El-E," this robot is over 5-feet-tall and boasts a large mechanical arm. It is far from humanoid looking, but it certainly serves a humane cause by helping those with mobility issues.

A human with a laser pointer guides El-E. When the laser is pointed at an object and a button is clicked, the robot responds by moving to the object, picking it up and bringing it to its master (for lack of a better word). Essentially, Georgia Tech has created a very high-tech device that fetches items.

This breakthrough has endless possibilities for the disabled, as well as able-bodied citizens everywhere. Charlie Kemp, the director of the project, states that the robot "… creates a clickable world." Indeed, it is like having a computer cursor in the flesh, able to select and move anything you wish.

Another impressive feature is the "personality" that is programmed into the robot. El-E says various amusing phrases as it completes tasks. For instance, it might pick up an object and say, "Bob's your uncle." Will this strange-looking, gangly robot be able to replace helper monkeys and dogs? Only time will tell.

This summer, El-E will be further tested with a group of patients who suffer from a degenerative disease. Then, the creators will really see how practical the machine is for widespread use amongst the disabled. Of course, practicality will probably also hinge on the machine's cost, which is still a secret as of now. It can't be very cheap, as the current version uses countless sensors, cameras and laser technology.

The current model of the El-E has a very "1.0" feel to it, particularly since it can only currently lift items weighing up to 1.2 pounds. One can only assume that this would be improved in the future. If the El-E robot does grow in popularity, it only makes sense for it to cross over into every household. Americans would no doubt love to spend copious amounts of money on a robot that will retrieve a remote control from across the room.

Susan Jacobs is a teacher, a freelance writer as well as a regular contributor for NOEDb, a site helping students obtain an online nursing degree. Susan invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address susan.jacobs45@gmail.com . To contribute your post to Medgadget contact us at medgadget--@--medgadget--dot--com.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

Design Concept: Wireless Walking Stick for Blind

Designer Jin Woo Han proposes a design for a walking stick for the blind that has a proximity sensor and a built-in vibrator that relates to the user how far objects are. This is just a design proposal, but the idea is not far fetched as the various technology components already exist in production.

Product page: Wand for Blind...

(hat tip: Gizmodo)

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Monday, March 3, 2008

iPoint Presenter Promises a New Human-Computer Mode of Communication

Engineers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications are going to showcase at the upcoming CeBIT in Hanover a new way for people to communicate with computers. The system, dubbed iPoint Presenter, might come handy for the development of devices designed for people with disabilities, and for other applications:

At the heart of the system is a set of cameras which enable the computer to observe the person standing in front of the projection screen. The moment this person moves their hands, the computer reacts without being touched at all. “It begins by determining the position of the user’s index finger, then follows its movements,” Chojecki explains. The user can point to buttons or use gestures to move virtual objects. Through ‘multipointing interaction’, i.e. commands using multiple fingers, he can rotate, enlarge or minimize objects. This requires neither special gloves nor any particular markings. Anyone can intuitively operate the device with their bare hands without any preparation whatsoever.
The iPoint Presenter will be demonstrated for the first time at CeBIT 2008, using the example of an interactive game and a photo viewer. But these are just two of the many possible applications it can be used for. It could replace touch screens at info terminals, for example, or help to edit and organize photos. “What is special about it is that the human-computer cummunication is entirely contact-free. The system is therefore ideal for scenarios in which contact between the user and the computer is not allowed or not possible, for example in an operating theater,” says Chojecki. The system would also be ideal for presentations in large auditoriums. The speaker would no longer need a mouse or a laser pointer, and could click through the presentation and highlight important information simply by pointing. A particularly useful feature for situations like these is that the system can be extended to as many as nine cameras. This immensely increases the user’s operating range and enables them to interact with very large screens, for example at trade fairs or advertising events.

Gestures enable people of different nationalities to communicate without the need for spoken words. How useful would it be if this type of communication were also possible between humans and technical devices? This form of giving commands would make many situations safer and more pleasant than they are today. Drivers, for example, could operate their car radios and navigators more easily, and TV viewers at home in their armchairs would no longer need a remote control to flick through the channels. A whole new generation of video games could be created if the technology involved were able to identify and interpret human gestures. Even machines, household appliances or video conference systems could be controlled by mere hand signals. The system could also be of help to physically disabled people, enabling them to interact with a computer without the need for a mouse and keyboard.

To translate these scenarios into reality as soon as possible, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT in Ilmenau are now teaching computers to understand human gestures, and are developing a method of automatically recognizing different hand signals. “Our work is based on optical pattern recognition,” explains IDMT project manager Valiantsin Hardzeyeu. “This technique mimics the way in which humans see things. To this end, we modeled the processes taking place in the human visual apparatus – from the point where the photons hit the retina to the stage in which they are processed in the visual cortex – in a computer simulation.” A first prototype, which comprises an ‘intelligent’ camera connected to a computer with this new type of pattern recognition software, will be presented at the Fraunhofer stand (B36) in Hall 9. The camera will record visitors’ gestures, and the software behind it will analyze them and convert the hand signals into machine commands.

Press release: Gesture-driven computers...

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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

G-Trainer Weight Reducing Treadmill Approved as Medgadget by FDA

G-Trainer antigravity treadmill, from Menlo Park, CA based Alter-G, Inc., is now classified as a medical device, cleared by the FDA "for medical uses in rehabilitation after lower extremity injury or surgery, aerobic conditioning, weight control, gait training for neurological conditions, and strengthening and conditioning for older patients," according to the company's press release.

The device has more features than the computer in front of you, namely "an advanced air pressure regulation system, enclosure sealing component, a customized treadmill, and a touch screen control panel."

From a G-Trainer brochure:

Alter-G has developed an advanced air pressure regulation system to ensure that body weight variables can be accurately set for every user, every time. The air pressure regulation system is sophisticated enough to monitor and account for changes to the interior pressure of the cavity so that accurate body weight reduction can be maintained throughout a workout session.
Users can choose to reduce their effective body weight by as much as 80% in as small as 1% increments. It takes very little pressure in the cavity to produce a substantial lifting force and because the pressure is distributed over a large surface area, the user feels very little force against their body.

Product page: G-Trainer

Press release (.pdf)...

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Monday, February 11, 2008

Light-based Hospital GPS

Talking Lights, a Boston, MA startup, is working on a system to assist people with cognitive problems to navigate. Developed to be used inside nursing homes and hospitals, the system uses a network of modified fluorescent light fixtures with unique flicker signatures, which are then used to navigate someone who has a specialized hand held computer. The idea is to assist patients moving around the hospital when they receive a variety of tests and procedures, in case they have trouble remembering how to get from one place to another.

The Talking Lights System is an optically-based, multiple-use, context aware local area wireless system for data transmission that makes it possible to achieve GPS-like position identification and guidance indoors, where GPS doesn't operate accurately.
The Talking Lights communications link is created by modulating the light from an ordinary light fixture to encode information. The light continues to perform its original function of providing bright illumination without visible flicker while simultaneously establishing an information link for context-aware data transmission. The system has three parts:

a modulated light fixture that transmits a locator signal.

a portable receiver to acquire the signal.

software to process the signal from the light and furnish data to the receiver.

As it approaches the modulated light fixture, the receiver decodes and processes data from the light and transforms it into information that can be presented in analog or digital form. The Talking Lights System can be used to form a hybrid network that combines the advantages of optical location-finding with broadband WiFi duplex data transfer.

The Talking Lights network enables the receiver to determine its location or travel path, while the Wi-Fi network communicates rich information that is tied to a specific location.

Technology page: Talking Lights®...

More at the MIT Technology Review...

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Thursday, February 7, 2008

The Xtensor Rehab Glove

For people that experience arm pain due to repetitive tasks such as typing, the Xtensor glove may help relieve it with a bit of exercise. The product focuses on the muscles that rarely get any attention. Most people use their hands and fingers by squeezing and pushing, in other words, flexion gets all the work. Hence extension is rarely exercised, and that is what the company believes needs to be improved upon. The Xtensor glove provides that tension and may help folks train their pain away. Hopefully the company is right. Can anyone let us know about their experience with this device?

Product page: Xtensor

(hat tip: SlashGear)

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Monday, February 4, 2008

DARPA Backs Luke Arm (Updated below)

This morning we wrote that DARPA is about to decide whether to continue development of the world's most advanced prosthesis, now called the Luke Arm. A press release from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory announcing $31 million of funding from DARPA, and Hopkins' leading role in the next stage of development, sounds like a bright green light for the project.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to complete development of a prosthetic arm that will be controlled, feel, look and perform like a natural limb. Funding will support Phase 2 of DARPA’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP 2009) program, an ambitious effort to provide the most advanced medical and rehabilitative technologies for military personnel injured in the line of duty.
In Phase 1, the APL-led RP 2009 team of approximately 30 organizations developed two prototypes. The first prototype, presented to DARPA less than a year after the project started, is a fully integrated prosthetic arm that can be controlled naturally, provide sensory feedback and allows for eight degrees of freedom – a level of control far beyond the current state of the art for prosthetic limbs. The Proto 1 limb system also includes a virtual environment used for patient training, clinical configuration, and to record limb movements and control signals during clinical investigations.

The second prototype, demonstrated at DARPA Tech 2007 last August, has 25 individual joints that approach the natural speed and range of motion of the human limb. These mechanical limb systems are complemented by a range of emerging neural integration strategies that promise to restore near-natural control and important sensory feedback capabilities.

Press releases: DARPA Gives APL-Led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 Team Green Light for Phase 2; APL to Lead Team Developing Revolutionary Prosthesis

UPDATE: It appears that we've got mixed up by all the ongoing bionic arms projects. Medgadget reader TroyTurner left the following important comment:

I would like to clarify some of the information in your article above as it appears that two great research efforts are being confused &/or intermingled. While your headline, accompanying photo, and first sentence are about the Deka "Luke Arm", the rest of the story is about the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU-APL) device. Of course this also means that your headline isn't totally accurate. DARPA has awarded a phase II contract to JHU-APL, not Deka (though that is still being pursued.)
In 2004/5, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded two distinctly separate prosthetic arm development projects.

One was called "Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2007", and was awarded to DEKA R&D (www.dekaresearch.com). The Deka effort, now being referred to as "The Luke Arm" (pictured in your post above), has been completed. The goal of this project was to build the very best prosthetic upper limb that could be built using currently available technology. It is possible that DARPA will fund a phase II for further work, though that has not yet happened.

The other award, "Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009", went to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU-APL). Managed by Stuart Harshbarger at JHU-APL, this international effort to develop an advanced neural controlled upper limb is well described in the news release from JHU-APL that you've included in your post above.

An important distinction between the two programs is that the APL effort includes the development of true neural control of the device, while the Deka "Luke Arm" is currently controlled using myoelectric controls, though Deka is working with other organizations to enable additional control methodologies.

Because of the goals & program names, this can be confusing even for folks who are close to the work. Great things coming out of these efforts: of course some amazing advances in prosthetics, but I also believe we're also going to see advances in many other area of biomed, robotics, etc. in years to come with roots embedded in these efforts.

Agreed. The search of our archives brings the following post from April 2007 about the JHU-APL integrated prosthetic arm project: Bionic Arm 2.0, Watch Out Dean Kaman. We appologize for the confusion.

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Update: Dean Kamen's Luke Arm

Dean Kamen's project to design and build the most advanced arm prosthesis, now called the Luke Arm, has wrapped up its mandate, and DARPA, the sponsor of the project, will be deciding whether to continue funding the arm and apply for clinical trials.

In order to make a better arm, Kamen first had to figure out what was wrong with the old one. Part of the reason the technology was still in “the Flintstones” was a lack of agility: a human arm has 22 degrees of freedom, not three. The Luke Arm prosthetic is agile because of the fine motor control imparted by the enormous amount of circuitry inside the arm, which enables 18 degrees of freedom. The engineers fought for space inside the arm and created workarounds when they couldn’t have the space they needed, such as using rigid-to-flex circuit boards folded into origami-like shapes inside the tiny spaces, which are connected by a dense thicket of wiring.
The arm has motor control fine enough for test subjects to pluck chocolate-covered coffee beans one by one, pick up a power drill, unlock a door, and shake a hand. Six preconfigured grip settings make this possible, with names like chuck grip, key grip, and power grip. The different grips are shortcuts for the main operations humans perform daily.

The Luke arm also had to be modular, usable by anyone with any level of amputation. The arm works as though it had a very complicated set of vacuum cleaner attachments; the hand contains separate electronics, as does the forearm. The elbow is powered, and the electronics that power it are contained in the upper arm. The shoulder is also powered and can accomplish the never-before-seen feat of reaching up as if to pick an apple off a tree.

It must be less than what a native limb would have weighed, because in an amputee the human skeletal system can no longer be used as a method of attachment. Instead, for amputations above the elbow, a user is strapped into a kind of harness. Deka engineers modeled the arm based on the weight of a statistically average female arm (about 3.6 kg), including all the electronics and the lithium battery. Amazingly, titanium, the legendarily light material, is too heavy to keep the arm under its weight limit—it can’t be made thin enough without bending—so the arm is mostly aluminum.

More at IEEE Spectrum Online...

Flashbacks: Dean Kamen's DARPA Arm in the Lab, Dean Kamen and His Arm, Dean Kamen's Robotic Arm Part Deuce, Cyborg Arm: DARPA Recruits Dean Kaman, Dean Kamen Talks Medgadgets

(hat tip: Engadget)

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Carpentry For The Weak

The Japanese are continuing their relentless development of power assist devices to help the aging and weak to work at construction sites like anyone else. At Nagoya University research is being done on a wearable robot to help with common carpentry tasks that require the worker to hold heavy boards with one hand and screw them in place with the other.

Article (PDF): Development of a Wearable Robot for Assisting Carpentry Workers

Flashback: Gardener's Exoskeleton

(hat tip: Ubergizmo)

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