The Use of Robotics Technology to Study Human Joint Kinematics: A New Methodology

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromichi Fujie ◽  
Kiyoshi Mabuchi ◽  
Savio L.-Y. Woo ◽  
Glen A. Livesay ◽  
Shinji Arai ◽  
...  

Robotics technologies have been modified to control and measure both the force and position of synovial joints for the study of joint kinematics. One such system was developed to perform kinematic testing of a human joint. A 6-axis articulated robotic manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom (DOF) of motion was designed and constructed; a mathematical description for joint force and position was devised; and hardware and software to control forces applied to the joint, as well as position of the joint, were developed. The new methodology was utilized to simulate physiological loading conditions and to perform an anterior-posterior (A-P) translation test on a human cadaveric knee. Testing showed that this new system can simulate complex loading conditions and also measure the resulting joint kinematics.

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickaël Begon ◽  
Michael Skipper Andersen ◽  
Raphaël Dumas

Multibody kinematics optimization (MKO) aims to reduce soft tissue artefact (STA) and is a key step in musculoskeletal modeling. The objective of this review was to identify the numerical methods, their validation and performance for the estimation of the human joint kinematics using MKO. Seventy-four papers were extracted from a systematized search in five databases and cross-referencing. Model-derived kinematics were obtained using either constrained optimization or Kalman filtering to minimize the difference between measured (i.e., by skin markers, electromagnetic or inertial sensors) and model-derived positions and/or orientations. While hinge, universal, and spherical joints prevail, advanced models (e.g., parallel and four-bar mechanisms, elastic joint) have been introduced, mainly for the knee and shoulder joints. Models and methods were evaluated using: (i) simulated data based, however, on oversimplified STA and joint models; (ii) reconstruction residual errors, ranging from 4 mm to 40 mm; (iii) sensitivity analyses which highlighted the effect (up to 36 deg and 12 mm) of model geometrical parameters, joint models, and computational methods; (iv) comparison with other approaches (i.e., single body kinematics optimization and nonoptimized kinematics); (v) repeatability studies that showed low intra- and inter-observer variability; and (vi) validation against ground-truth bone kinematics (with errors between 1 deg and 22 deg for tibiofemoral rotations and between 3 deg and 10 deg for glenohumeral rotations). Moreover, MKO was applied to various movements (e.g., walking, running, arm elevation). Additional validations, especially for the upper limb, should be undertaken and we recommend a more systematic approach for the evaluation of MKO. In addition, further model development, scaling, and personalization methods are required to better estimate the secondary degrees-of-freedom (DoF).


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Wünschel ◽  
Ulf Leichtle ◽  
JiaHsuan Lo ◽  
Nikolaus Wülker ◽  
Otto Müller

Cadaveric <em>in vitro</em> studies are essential to test hypotheses concerning surgical manipulations in the same individual. Robotic technologies as well as different knee-models have been developed to get an in-depth comprehension of knee joint kinematics. The purpose of this study was to compare utilization of these different established principles. Ten human cadaveric knee specimens were used to measure the kinematics during a weight-bearing flexion in a 6-degrees-of-freedom knee simulator. While flexing the knee, joint quadriceps muscle forces were dynamically simulated to reach a vertical ground reaction force of 100N. Fourteen knee specimens were mounted in 6-degrees-of-freedom robotic manipulator with a universal force sensor. The unloaded flexing motion of each specimen was measured by finding positions for each degree of flexion where all forces are minimal (passive path). The kinematic data of the kneesimulator and the robot concerning <em>internal-external</em> rotation, <em>anterior-posterior</em> translation, <em>varus-valgus</em> motion, and <em>medial-lateral </em>translation was examined. For all investigated degrees of freedom the kinematics of the robotic passive path differed from the loaded kinematics in the knee simulator. Simulated bodyweight as well as the examination method used has a substantial influence on joint kinematics during flexion which has to be considered when interpreting biomechanical studies as well as clinical tests.


2011 ◽  
Vol 200 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Scheibe ◽  
Mario M. Dorostkar ◽  
Christian Seebacher ◽  
Rainer Uhl ◽  
Frank Lison ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 341-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Rouhani ◽  
M. J. Nategh

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the workspace and dexterity of a microhexapod which is a 6-degrees of freedom (DOF) parallel compliant manipulator, and also to investigate its dimensional synthesis to maximize the workspace and the global dexterity index at the same time. Microassembly is so essential in the current industry for manufacturing complicated structures. Most of the micromanipulators suffer from their restricted workspace because of using flexure joints compared to the conventional ones. In addition, the controllability of micromanipulators inside the whole workspace is very vital. Thus, it is very important to select the design parameters in a way that not only maximize the workspace but also its global dexterity index. Design/methodology/approach – Microassembly is so essential in the current industry for manufacturing complicated structures. Most of the micromanipulators suffer from their restricted workspace because of using flexure joints compared to the conventional ones. In addition, the controllability of micromanipulators inside the whole workspace is very vital. Thus, it is very important to select the design parameters in a way that not only maximize the workspace but also its global dexterity index. Findings – It has been shown that the proposed procedure for the workspace calculation can considerably speed the required calculations. The optimization results show that a converged-diverged configuration of pods and an increase in the difference between the moving and the stationary platforms’ radii cause the global dexterity index to increase and the workspace to decrease. Originality/value – The proposed algorithm for the workspace analysis is very important, especially when it is an objective function of an optimization problem based on the search method. In addition, using screw theory can simply construct the homogeneous Jacobian matrix. The proposed methodology can be used for any other micromanipulator.


Author(s):  
Jean Alain Le Duff ◽  
Andre´ Lefranc¸ois ◽  
Jean Philippe Vernot

In February/March 2007, The NRC issued Regulatory Guide “RG1.207” and Argonne National Laboratory issued NUREG/CR-6909 that is now applicable in the US for evaluations of PWR environmental effects in fatigue analyses of new reactor components. In order to assess the conservativeness of the application of this NUREG report, Low Cycle Fatigue (LCF) tests were performed by AREVA NP on austenitic stainless steel specimens in a PWR environment. The selected material exhibits in air environment a fatigue behavior consistent with the ANL reference “air” mean curve, as published in NUREG/CR-6909. LCF tests in a PWR environment were performed at various strain amplitude levels (± 0.6% or ± 0.3%) for two loading conditions corresponding to a simple or to a complex strain rate history. The simple loading condition is a fully reverse triangle signal (for comparison purposes with tests performed by other laboratories with the same loading conditions) and the complex signal simulates the strain variation for an actual typical PWR thermal transient. In addition, two various surface finish conditions were tested: polished and ground. This paper presents the comparisons of penalty factors, as observed experimentally, with penalty factors evaluated using ANL formulations (considering the strain integral method for complex loading), and on the other, the comparison of the actual fatigue life of the specimen with the fatigue life predicted through the NUREG report application. For the two strain amplitudes of ± 0.6% and ± 0.3%, LCF tests results obtained on austenitic stainless steel specimens in PWR environment with triangle waveforms at constant low strain rates give “Fen” penalty factors close to those estimated using the ANL formulation (NUREG/6909). However, for the lower strain amplitude level and a triangle loading signal, the ANL formulation is pessimistic compared to the AREVA NP test results obtained for polished specimens. Finally, it was observed that constant amplitude LCF test results obtained on ground specimens under complex loading simulating an actual sequence of a cold and hot thermal shock exhibits lower combined environmental and surface finish effects when compared to the penalty factors estimated on the basis of the ANL formulations. It appears that the application of the NUREG/CR-6909 in conjunction with the Fen model proposed by ANL for austenitic stainless steel provides excessive margins, whereas the current ASME approach seems sufficient to cover significant environmental effects for representative loadings and surface finish conditions of reactor components.


Soil Research ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 40 (8) ◽  
pp. 1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. L. Henderson ◽  
E. N. Bui

A new pH water to pH CaCl2 calibration curve was derived from data pooled from 2 National Land and Water Resources Audit projects. A total of 70465 observations with both pH in water and pH in CaCl2 were available for statistical analysis. An additive model for pH in CaCl2 was fitted from a smooth function of pH in water created by a smoothing spline with 6 degrees of freedom. This model appeared stable outside the range of the data and performed well (R2 = 96.2, s = 0.24). The additive model for conversion of pHw to pHCa is sigmoidal over the range of pH 2.5 to 10.5 and is similar in shape to earlier models. Using this new model, a look-up table for converting pHw to pHCa was created.


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