Chen Ava, Lee Katelyn, Winterbottom Lauren, Xu Jingxi, Lee Connor, Munger Grace, Deli-Ivanov Alexandra, Nilsen Dawn M, Stein Joel, Ciocarlie Matei
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Department of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA.
Proc IEEE RAS EMBS Int Conf Biomed Robot Biomechatron. 2024 Sep;2024:1670-1675. doi: 10.1109/biorob60516.2024.10719809. Epub 2024 Oct 23.
Increased effort during use of the paretic arm and hand can provoke involuntary abnormal synergy patterns and amplify stiffness effects of muscle tone for individuals after stroke, which can add difficulty for user-controlled devices to assist hand movement during functional tasks. We study how volitional effort, exerted in an attempt to open or close the hand, affects resistance to robot-assisted movement at the finger level. We perform experiments with three chronic stroke survivors to measure changes in stiffness when the user is actively exerting effort to activate ipsilateral EMG-controlled robot-assisted hand movements, compared with when the fingers are passively stretched, as well as overall effects from sustained active engagement and use. Our results suggest that active engagement of the upper extremity increases muscle tone in the finger to a much greater degree than through passive-stretch or sustained exertion over time. Potential design implications of this work suggest that developers should anticipate higher levels of finger stiffness when relying on user-driven ipsilateral control methods for assistive or rehabilitative devices for stroke.
对于中风后的个体，使用患侧手臂和手部时增加用力会引发非自愿的异常协同模式，并放大肌张力的僵硬效应，这会给用户控制的设备在功能任务期间辅助手部运动增加困难。我们研究了试图张开或闭合手部时施加的自主用力如何影响手指水平上对机器人辅助运动的阻力。我们对三名慢性中风幸存者进行实验，以测量用户主动用力激活同侧肌电图控制的机器人辅助手部运动时的僵硬变化，与手指被动伸展时相比，以及持续主动参与和使用的总体效果。我们的结果表明，上肢的主动参与使手指的肌张力增加的程度远大于被动伸展或随时间持续用力。这项工作的潜在设计意义表明，对于中风辅助或康复设备，开发者在依赖用户驱动的同侧控制方法时应预计到手指有更高程度的僵硬。
