Paulo Abreu

Instrumented glove for rehabilitation exercises

This work describes an instrumented glove suitable for the rehabilitation of patients that show movement limitations after suffering a stroke. This instrumented glove uses angular position sensors to measure rotation of each joint of each finger and pressure sensors to monitor the pressure applied on each fingertip. Each finger also has a vibration motor and an indicator LED to provide a stimulus during rehabilitation exercises. The glove communicates via Serial Peripheral Interface protocol (SPI) with an HMI module where a graphical application was developed in order to monitor each finger and to implement rehabilitation game-like exercises. Nonetheless, this device has the capability to monitor and record the sensor data during the implemented exercises for further data analysis.

Wireless control and network management of door locks

This demo exemplifies the use of different wireless protocols, such as BLE and NFC, to manage and control multiple door locks. Each lock is able to transfer data to a router through a wireless protocol, MiWi™. The latter is connected trough an Ethernet network to a computer that manages the permissions for each lock, logging all the events.

Pneumatic Driven Device for Integration into Robotic Finishing Applications

The use of robots in industrial applications has been widespread from handling tasks to processes. The finishing processes include operations such as deburring, grinding and polishing. Within these processes, there is a need to control the contact force between the workpiece and the robot. The force control can be implemented in a passive or active form, either in the robot arm or with an external device. This paper presents the development of a device to be used in robotic finishing applications. It provides a semi-active system that limits and maintains the contact force and is used in conjunction with the robot controller. The device uses a pneumatic driven linear axis fitted with a position sensor. The architecture of the developed system and experimental results regarding the performance of the built prototype are presented. The implementation of different control strategies to adjust the robot path velocity are proposed and discussed.

A tool for grip evaluation and learning

This demo presents a system that uses a physical device providing an interaction with a virtual environment to be used on hand rehabilitation. The envisaged rehabilitation activities cover both occupational therapy and training on the use of myoelectric prosthesis. The developed virtual environment uses the Unity game engine to conduct grip force control exercises enhanced by augmented visual and sound feedback.

Handgrip Evaluation: Endurance and Handedness Dominance

This work contributes to the development of a repeatable and objective methodology for relating the physiological energy spent during a handgrip exercise, identified through the variation of skin temperature, with the average grip force, and evaluate its influence on exercise endurance and handedness dominance. For that purpose, a special handgrip dynamometer is used as well as an Infrared Thermal Imaging (IRT) to map large areas of skin surface temperature. Results suggest that at least a 10-grips test with the dynamometer is required to produce reliable thermal results and the dominant hand should be used. In the future, relationship between the thermal variables and mechanical work involved during the handgrip should be addressed. The developed methodology should be applied to populations at health risk conditions to which the use of the handgrip dynamometer can provide information for diagnose and treatment assessment.

Hysteresis Compensation in a Tactile Device for Arterial Pulse Reproduction

This paper describes a system for training healthcare practitioners in the identification of different arterial pulses. The driving system uses a linear solenoid in an open loop force control. Due to the large hysteresis it exhibited, a form of compensation was implemented, based on the classic Preisach model of hysteresis. Implementation of said model resulted in a significant reduction of force tracking error, demonstrating the feasibility of the chosen approach for the intended application.

Demonstration: Online Detection of Abnormalities in Blood Pressure Waveform: Bisfiriens and Alternans Pulse

Some cardiovascular diseases (CVD) can be characterized by abnormalities in the blood pressure (BP) waveform. This work explores the use of ML techniques in a screening system currently under development for detection of BP waveform abnormalities - Bisferiens and Alternans pulses. The system uses a tonometric probe for signal acquisition, signal processing involving period segmentation and image processing, and classification. The classification method used was the support vector machine (SVM) and it achieved an accuracy of 99.84%. Signal acquisition is done locally and sent to a remote server where the signal and image processing and classification is performed and the result prediction is sent back to the user.

Embedded Fabry-Perot based sensor using three-dimensional printing technology

A sensor based on Fabry-Perot interferometry with a hollow microsphere cavity embedded in a 3D printed structure is proposed. The sensor was tested for lateral loading and temperature, showing promising results. By imprintring the sensor on the structure, the dynamic range of application is severely increased enabling the application of the sensor in harsh environments.

Fiber Bragg grating sensor based on cantilever structure embedded in polymer 3D printed material

A cantilever structure in 3D printed based on a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor embedded in polymer material is proposed. The FBG sensor was embedded in 3D printed coating and was tested under three physical parameters: displacement, temperature and vibration. The sensor was tested in displacement in two different regions of the cantilever, namely, on its midpoint and end point. The maximum displacement sensitivity achieved was (3 ± 0.1) pm/mm for end point displacement, and a temperature sensitivity of (30 ± 1) pm/°C was also attained. In the case of vibration measurements it was possible to obtain a 10.23Hz-low frequency oscillation.

An online collaborative environment for rehabilitation using instrumented devices

This work reports the integration of different instrumented devices in the development of CORe, a Collaborative Online Rehabilitation Environment. This collaborative environment aims to support intelligent monitoring devices to be used in online rehabilitation and occupational therapy, further allowing the deployment of wide monitoring solutions for society supporting the health, ageing and rehabilitation fields. Several monitoring devices, such as instrumented gloves, a system for hand rehabilitation among other devices showcase some of the main features of this environment.