scholarly journals Design and Performance Evaluation of a Wearable Passive Cable-driven Shoulder Exoskeleton

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Asgari ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phillips ◽  
Britt M. Dalton ◽  
Jennifer L. Rudl ◽  
Dustin L. Crouch

AbstractThe mechanical assistance provided by exoskeletons could potentially replace, assist, or rehabilitate upper extremity function in patients with mild to moderate shoulder disability to perform activities of daily living. While many exoskeletons are “active” (e.g. motorized), mechanically passive exoskeletons may be a more practical and affordable solution to meet a growing clinical need for continuous, home-based movement assistance. In the current study, we designed, fabricated, and evaluated the performance of a wearable, passive, cable-driven shoulder exoskeleton (WPCSE) prototype. An innovative feature of the WPCSE is a modular spring-cam-wheel system that can be custom designed to compensate for any proportion of the shoulder elevation moment due to gravity over a large range of shoulder motion. The force produced by the spring-cam-wheel system is transmitted over the superior aspect of the shoulder to an arm cuff through a Bowden cable. The results from mechanical evaluation revealed that the modular spring-cam-wheel system could successfully produce an assistive positive shoulder elevation moment that matched the desired, theoretical moment. However, when measured from the physical WPCSE prototype, the moment was lower (up to 30%) during positive shoulder elevation and higher (up to 120%) during negative shoulder elevation due primarily to friction. Even so, our biomechanical evaluation showed that the WPCSE prototype reduced the root mean square (up to 35%) and peak (up to 33%) muscular activity, as measured by electromyography, of several muscles crossing the shoulder during shoulder elevation and horizontal adduction/abduction movements. These preliminary results suggest that our WPCSE may be suitable for providing movement assistance to people with shoulder disability.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Asgari ◽  
Elizabeth A. Phillips ◽  
Britt M. Dalton ◽  
Jennifer L. Rudl ◽  
Dustin L. Crouch

Abstract BackgroundMechanically passive (i.e. spring-powered) exoskeletons may be a practical and affordable solution to meet a growing clinical need for continuous, home-based movement assistance. We designed, fabricated, and preliminarily evaluated the performance of a wearable, passive, cam-driven shoulder exoskeleton (WPCSE) prototype. MethodsThe novel feature of the WPCSE is a modular spring-cam-wheel module, which generates an assistive force that can be customized to compensate for any proportion of the shoulder elevation moment due to gravity. We performed a benchtop experiment to validate the mechanical output of the WPCSE against our theoretical model. We also conducted a pilot biomechanics study (four able-bodied subjects) to quantify the effect of a WPCSE prototype on muscle activity and shoulder kinematics during three one-degree-of-freedom shoulder movements. ResultsThe shoulder elevation moment produced by the spring-cam-wheel module alone closely matched the desired, theoretical moment. However, when measured from the full WPCSE prototype, the moment was lower (up to 30%) during positive shoulder elevation and higher (up to 120%) during negative shoulder elevation compared to the theoretical moment, due primarily to friction. Even so, a WPCSE prototype, compensating for about 25% of the shoulder elevation moment due to gravity, showed a trend of reducing root mean square (up to 50%) and peak (up to 53%) electromyogram magnitudes of several muscles crossing the shoulder during shoulder elevation and horizontal adduction/abduction movements. Subjects verbally reported that the WPCSE did not physically constrain them during the tested movements. ConclusionThe results provide proof-of-concept evidence that our WPCSE can potentially assist shoulder movements. The proposed WPCSE, once refined, could provide clinical and home-based rehabilitation for patients with shoulder disability.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad E. Tamboosi ◽  
Safeer S. Al-Khathami ◽  
Shamekh M. El-Shamy

Abstract Aim To investigate the effectiveness of tele-rehabilitation for children diagnosed with unilateral cerebral palsy. Method The design of this study is a narrative review. An electronic search was conducted for studies that related to tele-rehabilitation using the following databases: CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, OTSeeker, and PEDro. The data extracted were analyzed by evaluating them according to the key results, limitations, suitability of the methods used to the initial hypothesis, interpretation of the results, and impact of the conclusions in the field. Results Out of 139 studies, 3 studies met the inclusion criteria. Further, manual searches of the references of included studies identified 2 more relevant studies. The interventions applied in those studies were web-based multi-modal therapy program using Move-it-to-improve-it (Mitii™), home-based hand-arm bimanual intensive therapy (H-HABIT), and lower-extremity functional training (LIFT). The outcomes were executive functions, occupational performance, activity capacity, dexterity, quality of bimanual hand-use, functional goals, gait capacity, and performance. Conclusion Tele-rehabilitation is effective in improving the functions of the upper and lower extremities in daily living activities for children with unilateral cerebral palsy (UCP), aged between 2 to 18 years old, classified to levels I and II in GMFCS and levels I, II, and III in MACS. Webcam and good internet connection are essential requirements to conduct tele-rehabilitation. Children need to be contacted weekly via phone or e-mail for further follow-ups. Additionally, tele-rehabilitation may be considered one of the intervention strategies for patients who live in rural areas.


2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 382-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Voigt-Radloff ◽  
Rainer Leonhart ◽  
Matthias Schützwohl ◽  
Luisa Jurjanz ◽  
Thomas Reuster ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackground: The purpose of the study was to translate the Interview for Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia (IDDD) into German and to evaluate the construct and concurrent validity in people with mild to moderate dementia.Methods: IDDD data of two pooled samples (n = 301) were analyzed regarding ceiling and bottom effects, internal consistency, factor reliability and correlations with corresponding scales on cognition and activities of daily living.Results: We found minimal bottom (< 5%) and ceiling (≤ 2%) effects, good internal consistency (Cronbach's α > 0.7) and moderate to good factor reliability (0.66–0.87). Low correlations with cognition (Pearson coefficient: < 0.17) confirmed the differences between cognitive testing and activities of daily living (ADL). Minor correlations with other ADL scores (r < 0.2) indicated that different scores cover a different range of ADLs. The original two factor model could not be confirmed. A suggested four factor model distinguishing initiative and performance of basic and instrumental ADL demonstrated better indices of fit and higher correlations with corresponding scales.Conclusion: A four factor model of the IDDD can be used in dementia research for assessing initiative in and performance of basic and household activities of daily living. The findings suggest that ADL scales correlate only poorly and that further development of the IDDD is needed to cover a broader range of ADLs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Bertrams ◽  
Myriam Zäch

Social anxiety (alternatively: social-contact uncertainty) in the university context can lead to reduced health, well-being, and performance, and can even cause premature leaving of education. With the present study, we intended to supplement cross-sectional studies on students' autistic traits and social anxiety with longitudinal findings. We measured autistic traits and social-contact uncertainty of 118 university students on two occasions, roughly 1 year apart. Correlation, multiple regression, and cross-lagged analyses showed that more pronounced autistic traits predicted higher future social-contact uncertainty. Social-contact uncertainty did not predict autistic traits. We conclude that university students who are high in autistic traits tend not only to be more socially anxious at the moment but have a heightened risk of still being so in the future.


1995 ◽  
Vol 81 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1059-1074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hallgeir Halvari ◽  
Torgrim Gjesme

33 subjects were tested on competitive trait and state anxiety immediately before and after a competitive motor task of short duration (average performance time of 25 seconds). It required precise coordination of correct muscular activity, timing as well as speed, and physical strength that included explosive shifts in direction of movement. Two types of performance measures were employed, (a) number of errors during the performance and (b) the time it took to complete the motor task. Analysis showed a positive relation between trait anxiety and performance errors when a linear model was applied; however, when a curvilinear model was used, a strong significant U-relationship between errors and precompetition state anxiety emerged. Further, a strong positive linear relation between poststate anxiety and number of performance errors was observed. The results indicate that making errors in performance situations is a critical factor in producing postcompetition state anxiety.


Author(s):  
Kalaiarasi Arumugam ◽  
L.Ashok Kumar

Today, brain attack disorders are one of the most life-threatening areas in the medical era, which mankind is facing nowadays. Globally, more than 10,000,000 people are subjected to brain attack disorders like hemiplegia and tremor, every year, where two-thirds of them survive. Among the survival community, more than 80 per cent of them are subjected to long-term impairment of their upper extremity. In order to treat the impairment, the survival group is subjected to medications and rehabilitation in order to improve their daily living. But the facilities are very limited in fast-developing countries like India when compared to western standards. The rehabilitation given corresponding with medications during the treatment period in hospitals does not give a complete recovery from disability. People from rural background could not meet their rehabilitation requirements even in the hospital during treatment and also when they are discharged to home after treatment from hospitals due to financial constraints and reachability. In order to motivate the survival group to fulfill their daily living and improve their lifestyle, this paper is focused on intelligent home-based rehabilitation system at low cost, reliability, and affordability. One major movement disorder namely Upper Arm Hemiplegia was taken into account and visited few major hospitals around Coimbatore and Chennai for literature and case study. The facilities available in various hospitals and their drawbacks were analyzed.Acupuncture & Electro-therapeutics Research E-pubBased on the studies conducted at hospitals and taking advice from therapists, an innovative low-cost home-based rehabilitation device using Electro-Hydraulic systems has been developed to support patients who were used to impaired living even after treatments. To support Upper Arm Hemiplegia patients, the devices which were developed and experimented to hold different functionalities are discussed in this paper.


Author(s):  
Laura Delgado-Lobete ◽  
Rebeca Montes-Montes ◽  
Berdien W. van der Linde ◽  
Marina M. Schoemaker

The DCDDaily-Q is an instrument that aims to comprehensively assess motor performance in a broad range of activities of daily living (ADL) and to identify risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in children. The aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the DCDDaily-Q into European Spanish (DCDDaily-Q-ES) and to test its psychometric properties in Spanish 5 to 10 year old children. The DCDDaily-Q was translated and cross-culturally adapted into Spanish following international guidelines. Two-hundred and seventy-six parents of typically developing Spanish children completed the final version of the DCDDaily-Q-ES (M = 7.5 years, SD = 1.7; girls = 50%). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), internal consistency, and corrected item-total correlations were conducted to test construct validity, internal consistency, and homogeneity of the DCDDaily-Q-ES. The DCDDaily-Q-ES achieved good semantic, conceptual, and cultural equivalence. CFA supported construct validity of the DCDDaily-Q-ES. Reliability values were also good (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.703–0.843; corrected item-total correlations = 0.262–0.567). This is the first study to cross-culturally adapt and examine the DCDDaily-Q outside the Netherlands. The findings suggest that the DCDDaily-Q-ES is a reliable and valid measure to assess learning, participation, and performance in a broad range of ADL.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 373-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela L. Duckworth ◽  
Jamie L. Taxer ◽  
Lauren Eskreis-Winkler ◽  
Brian M. Galla ◽  
James J. Gross

Self-control refers to the alignment of thoughts, feelings, and actions with enduringly valued goals in the face of momentarily more alluring alternatives. In this review, we examine the role of self-control in academic achievement. We begin by defining self-control and distinguishing it from related constructs. Next, we summarize evidence that nearly all students experience conflict between academic goals that they value in the long run and nonacademic goals that they find more gratifying in the moment. We then turn to longitudinal evidence relating self-control to academic attainment, course grades, and performance on standardized achievement tests. We use the process model of self-control to illustrate how impulses are generated and regulated, emphasizing opportunities for students to deliberately strengthen impulses that are congruent with, and dampen impulses that are incongruent with, academic goals. Finally, we conclude with future directions for both science and practice.


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