Francisco J. Badesa

Pneumatic robotic systems for upper limb rehabilitation

The aim of rehabilitation robotic area is to research on the application of robotic devices to therapeutic procedures. The goal is to achieve the best possible motor, cognitive and functional recovery for people with impairments following various diseases. Pneumatic actuators are attractive for robotic rehabilitation applications because they are lightweight, powerful, and compliant, but their control has historically been difficult, limiting their use. This article first reviews the current state-of-art in rehabilitation robotic devices with pneumatic actuation systems reporting main features and control issues of each therapeutic device. Then, a new pneumatic rehabilitation robot for proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation therapies and for relearning daily living skills: like taking a glass, drinking, and placing object on shelves is described as a case study and compared with the current pneumatic rehabilitation devices.

Auto-adaptive robot-aided therapy using machine learning techniques

This paper presents an application of a classification method to adaptively and dynamically modify the therapy and real-time displays of a virtual reality system in accordance with the specific state of each patient using his/her physiological reactions. First, a theoretical background about several machine learning techniques for classification is presented. Then, nine machine learning techniques are compared in order to select the best candidate in terms of accuracy. Finally, first experimental results are presented to show that the therapy can be modulated in function of the patient state using machine learning classification techniques.

Multimodal Interfaces to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes in Robot-Assisted Rehabilitation

The paper presents the developing of a new robotic system for the administration of a highly sophisticated therapy to stroke patients. This therapy is able to maximize patient motivation and involvement in the therapy and continuously assess the progress of the recovery from the functional viewpoint. Current robotic rehabilitation systems do not include patient information on the control loop. The main novelty of the presented approach is to close patient in the loop and use multisensory data (such as pulse, skin conductance, skin temperature, position, velocity, etc.) to adaptively and dynamically change complexity of the therapy and real-time displays of a virtual reality system in accordance with specific patient requirements. First, an analysis of subjects physiological responses to different tasks is presented with the objective to select the best candidate of physiological signals to estimate the patient physiological state during the execution of a virtual rehabilitation task. Then, the design of a prototype of multimodal robotic platform is defined and developed to validate the scientific value of the proposed approach.

Distributed Smart Device for Monitoring, Control and Management of Electric Loads in Domotic Environments

This paper presents a microdevice for monitoring, control and management of electric loads at home. The key idea is to compact the electronic design as much as possible in order to install it inside a Schuko socket. Moreover, the electronic Schuko socket (electronic microdevice + Schuko socket) has the feature of communicating with a central unit and with other microdevices over the existing powerlines. Using the existing power lines, the proposed device can be installed in new buildings or in old ones. The main use of this device is to monitor, control and manage electric loads to save energy and prevent accidents produced by different kind of devices (e.g., iron) used in domestic tasks. The developed smart device is based on a single phase multifunction energy meter manufactured by Analog Devices (ADE7753) to measure the consumption of electrical energy and then to transmit it using a serial interface. To provide current measurement information to the ADE7753, an ultra flat SMD open loop integrated circuit current transducer based on the Hall effect principle manufactured by Lem (FHS-40P/SP600) has been used. Moreover, each smart device has a PL-3120 smart transceiver manufactured by LonWorks to execute the users program, to communicate with the ADE7753 via serial interface and to transmit information to the central unit via powerline communication. Experimental results show the exactitude of the measurements made using the developed smart device.

A Comparative Analysis of 2D and 3D Tasks for Virtual Reality Therapies Based on Robotic-Assisted Neurorehabilitation for Post-stroke Patients

Post-stroke neurorehabilitation based on virtual therapies are performed completing repetitive exercises shown in visual electronic devices, whose content represents imaginary or daily life tasks. Currently, there are two ways of visualization of these task. 3D virtual environments are used to get a three dimensional space that represents the real world with a high level of detail, whose realism is determinated by the resolucion and fidelity of the objects of the task. Furthermore, 2D virtual environments are used to represent the tasks with a low degree of realism using techniques of bidimensional graphics. However, the type of visualization can influence the quality of perception of the task, affecting the patients sensorimotor performance. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate if there were differences in patterns of kinematic movements when post-stroke patients performed a reach task viewing a virtual therapeutic game with two different type of visualization of virtual environment: 2D and 3D. Nine post-stroke patients have participated in the study receiving a virtual therapy assisted by PUPArm rehabilitation robot. Horizontal movements of the upper limb were performed to complete the aim of the tasks, which consist in reaching peripheral or perspective targets depending on the virtual environment shown. Various parameter types such as the maximum speed, reaction time, path length, or initial movement are analyzed from the data acquired objectively by the robotic device to evaluate the influence of the task visualization. At the end of the study, a usability survey was provided to each patient to analysis his/her satisfaction level. For all patients, the movement trajectories were enhanced when they completed the therapy. This fact suggests that patients motor recovery was increased. Despite of the similarity in majority of the kinematic parameters, differences in reaction time and path length were higher using the 3D task. Regarding the success rates were very similar. In conclusion, the using of 2D environments in virtual therapy may be a more appropriate and comfortable way to perform tasks for upper limb rehabilitation of post-stroke patients, in terms of accuracy in order to effectuate optimal kinematic trajectories.

Patient-Tailored Assistance: A New Concept of Assistive Robotic Device That Adapts to Individual Users

This article presents the development of a new concept for an assistive robotic device that can help people as needed, considering their residual physical and cognitive abilities, and, at the same time, increase their cognitive and physical abilities in activities of daily living (ADLs), such as drinking, cooking, eating, personal hygiene, and grooming.

Robust and Cooperative Image-Based Visual Servoing System Using a Redundant Architecture

The reliability and robustness of image-based visual servoing systems is still unsolved by the moment. In order to address this issue, a redundant and cooperative 2D visual servoing system based on the information provided by two cameras in eye-in-hand/eye-to-hand configurations is proposed. Its control law has been defined to assure that the whole system is stable if each subsystem is stable and to allow avoiding typical problems of image-based visual servoing systems like task singularities, features extraction errors, disappearance of image features, local minima, etc. Experimental results with an industrial robot manipulator based on Schunk modular motors to demonstrate the stability, performance and robustness of the proposed system are presented.

Hand exoskeleton for rehabilitation therapies with integrated optical force sensor

This article presents the design of a hand exoskeleton that features its modularity and the possibility of integrating a force sensor in its frame. The modularity is achieved by dividing the exoskeleton in separate units, each one driving a finger or pair of them. These units or “finger modules” have a single degree of freedom and may be easily attached or removed from the robot frame and human fingers by snap-in fixations. As for the force sensing capability, the device relies on a novel force sensor that uses optical elements to amplify and measure small elastic deformations in the robot structure. This sensor can be fully integrated as a structural element of the finger module. The proposed technology has been validated in two experimental sessions. A first study was performed in a clinical environment in order to check whether the hand exoskeleton (without the integrated force sensor) can successfully move an impaired hand in a “Mirror Therapy” environment. A second study was carried with healthy subjects to check the technical feasibility of using the integrated force sensor as a human–machine interface.

Auto-adaptative Robot-aided Therapy based in 3D Virtual Tasks controlled by a Supervised and Dynamic Neuro-Fuzzy System

This paper presents an application formed by a classification method based on the architecture of ART neural network (Adaptive Resonance Theory) and the Fuzzy Set Theory to classify physiological reactions in order to automatically and dynamically adapt a robot-assisted rehabilitation therapy to the patient needs, using a three-dimensional task in a virtual reality system. Firstly, the mathematical and structural model of the neuro-fuzzy classification method is described together with the signal and training data acquisition. Then, the virtual designed task with physics behavior and its development procedure are explained. Finally, the general architecture of the experimentation for the auto-adaptive therapy is presented using the classification method with the virtual reality exercise.

Design and Development of a Pneumatic Robot for Neurorehabilitation Therapies

This paper presents a new robotic system for upper limb rehabilitation. It is designed to assist the upper limb in therapies for both sitting and supine position, helping patients to carry out the required movements when they could not perform them. In the first part of the paper, the mechanical design and the development of the first prototype is exposed in detail. In the second part, new control strategy that modify the behavior of the rehabilitation robot according to different potential and force fields has been presented. Then, some experimental results of the performance of the implemented control with healthy subjects are reported.