At the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, a new robotic rehabilitation system has been developed that’s smart enough to continuously and very finely adjust itself to the patient’s rehab needs.
The robot consists of a harness suspended from the ceiling that is pulled on by motors up and forward so the user wearing it can comfortably walk across the floor. The amount of assistive force that the robot delivers constantly changes, controlled by a deep learning algorithm that takes into data coming from various sensors that provide the stride length, position of the legs, and muscle activity.
The assistance is sufficient to guarantee that the person won’t fall, while providing just enough help to allow the body to retrain itself.
Here’s a video from EPFL with the scientists discussing their technology:
Study in Science Translational Medicine: A multidirectional gravity-assist algorithm that enhances locomotor control in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury…
Via: EPFL…