Erwin Andrew, McDonald Craig G, Moser Nicholas, O'Malley Marcia K
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
J Rehabil Assist Technol Eng. 2021 Apr 14;8:2055668320985774. doi: 10.1177/2055668320985774. eCollection 2021 Jan-Dec.
Physical human-robot interaction offers a compelling platform for assessing recovery from neurological injury; however, robots currently used for assessment have typically been designed for the requirements of rehabilitation, not assessment. In this work, we present the design, control, and experimental validation of the SE-AssessWrist, which extends the capabilities of prior robotic devices to include complete wrist range of motion assessment in addition to stiffness evaluation.
The SE-AssessWrist uses a Bowden cable-based transmission in conjunction with series elastic actuation to increase device range of motion while not sacrificing torque output. Experimental validation of robot-aided wrist range of motion and stiffness assessment was carried out with five able-bodied individuals.
The SE-AssessWrist achieves the desired maximum wrist range of motion, while having sufficient position and zero force control performance for wrist biomechanical assessment. Measurements of two-degree-of-freedom wrist range of motion and stiffness envelopes revealed that the axis of greatest range of motion and least stiffness were oblique to the conventional anatomical axes, and approximately parallel to each other.
Such an assessment could be beneficial in the clinic, where standard clinical measures of recovery after neurological injury are subjective, labor intensive, and graded on an ordinal scale.
人机物理交互为评估神经损伤后的恢复情况提供了一个极具吸引力的平台；然而，目前用于评估的机器人通常是为康复需求而设计的，而非评估。在这项工作中，我们展示了SE-AssessWrist的设计、控制和实验验证，它扩展了先前机器人设备的功能，除了刚度评估外，还包括完整的手腕活动范围评估。
SE-AssessWrist采用基于鲍登缆线的传动方式，并结合串联弹性驱动，以增加设备的活动范围，同时不牺牲扭矩输出。对五名身体健全的个体进行了机器人辅助手腕活动范围和刚度评估的实验验证。
SE-AssessWrist实现了所需的最大手腕活动范围，同时具有足够的位置和零力控制性能用于手腕生物力学评估。对两自由度手腕活动范围和刚度包络的测量表明，最大活动范围和最小刚度的轴与传统解剖轴倾斜，且彼此大致平行。
这种评估在临床上可能是有益的，因为神经损伤后恢复情况的标准临床测量是主观的、劳动强度大的，并且是按顺序分级的。
