scholarly journals Assistive Devices to Help Correct Sitting-Posture Based on Posture Analysis Results

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 340
Author(s):  
Seung-Min Lee ◽  
Hyeon-Ju Kim ◽  
So-Jeong Ham ◽  
Sunhee Kim
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Ultrasonic Sensor ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Posture Analysis ◽  
Sitting Posture ◽  
Initial Symptoms ◽  
Long Time

As many people spend a lot of time sitting on a chair, diseases such as turtle neck, straight neck, caused by incorrect posture have been increasing. Preventing these diseases and treating initial symptoms is helpful just by sitting properly. However, when people sit, their postures become disturbed without their knowledge. In this paper, we propose an assistive device in the form of a chair that helps people to sit properly and helps correct their sitting posture. The assistive device is equipped with pressure sensors capable of measuring the distribution of pressure applied to the floor of the chair, and an ultrasonic sensor capable of measuring the distance between the user's back and the chair back. First, an ultrasonic sensor and pressure sensors are used to determine the user's posture, and if the user's posture is not correct, an alarm is sent to the user to help the user to correct the posture by himself. Second, stretching information is provided according to the degree of distribution of pressure measured by the pressure sensors, and pressures are applied to the user's back with press-type cushions to help the user sit in a correct posture. In addition, even when sitting in a chair for a long time, an alarm is triggered to induce a person to rise from the chair. After implementing the system based on Raspberry Pi, each operation was checked. Furthermore, it was confirmed through the experiment participants that the proposed assistive device can help people correct their sitting posture.

Mesh Network of eHealth Intelligent Agents for Visually Impaired and Blind People

2022 ◽  
pp. 240-271
Author(s):  
Dmytro Zubov
Keyword(s):  
Intelligent Agents ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Mesh Network ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Industrial Facilities ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Human Faces

Smart assistive devices for blind and visually impaired (B&VI) people are of high interest today since wearable IoT hardware became available for a wide range of users. In the first project, the Raspberry Pi 3 B board measures a distance to the nearest obstacle via ultrasonic sensor HC-SR04 and recognizes human faces by Pi camera, OpenCV library, and Adam Geitgey module. Objects are found by Bluetooth devices of classes 1-3 and iBeacons. Intelligent eHealth agents cooperate with one another in a smart city mesh network via MQTT and BLE protocols. In the second project, B&VIs are supported to play golf. Golf flagsticks have sound marking devices with a buzzer, NodeMcu Lua ESP8266 ESP-12 WiFi board, and WiFi remote control. In the third project, an assistive device supports the orientation of B&VIs by measuring the distance to obstacles via Arduino Uno and HC-SR04. The distance is pronounced through headphones. In the fourth project, the soft-/hardware complex uses Raspberry Pi 3 B and Bytereal iBeacon fingerprinting to uniquely identify the B&VI location at industrial facilities.

scholarly journals Monitoring of sitting postures with sensor networks in controlled and free-living environments: A systematic review (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpita Kappattanavar ◽  
Nico Steckhan ◽  
Jan Philipp Sachs ◽  
Bert Arnrich ◽  
Erwin Böttinger
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Classification Problem ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Free Living ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Posture Analysis ◽  
Sitting Posture ◽  
Prolonged Sitting ◽  
Medium Quality

BACKGROUND Background: Prolonged sitting postures have been reported to increase the probability of developing low back pain. Moreover, the majority of employees in the industrial world work ninety percent of their time in a seated position. OBJECTIVE This review focuses on the technologies and algorithms that have been used to classify seating postures on a chair with respect to spine and limb movements. METHODS Three electronic literature databases have been surveyed to identify the studies classifying sitting posture in adults. Fourteen articles have been finally shortlisted. These articles were categorized into low, medium, and high quality. Most of the articles were categorized as medium quality (12/14). RESULTS The majority of the studies used pressure sensors (13/14) to classify sitting postures. Neural Networks were the most frequently (6/14) used approaches for classifying sitting postures. CONCLUSIONS Based on the current study the classification of sitting posture is still in the nascent stage and hence, we would suggest personalized sitting posture analysis. Furthermore, the review emphasizes identifying at least five basic postures along with different limb and spine movements in a free-living environment. It is essential to annotate the data set with ground truths for subsequent training of the classifier to solve the sitting posture classification problem.

Sitting posture analysis by pressure sensors

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuhiro Kamiya ◽  
Mineichi Kudo ◽  
Hidetoshi Nonaka ◽  
Jun Toyama
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Sensors ◽  
Posture Analysis ◽  
Sitting Posture

scholarly journals Indoor Low Cost Assistive Device using 2D SLAM Based on LiDAR for Visually Impaired People

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-121
Author(s):  
Heba Hakim ◽  
Ali Marhoon
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Speech Synthesis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Optimal Path ◽  
Recognition System ◽  
Ultrasonic Sensor ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Planning Algorithm ◽  
Indoor Scenarios

Many assistive devices have been developed for visually impaired (VI) person in recent years which solve the problems that face VI person in his/her daily moving. Most of researches try to solve the obstacle avoidance or navigation problem, and others focus on assisting VI person to recognize the objects in his/her surrounding environment. However, a few of them integrate both navigation and recognition capabilities in their system. According to above needs, an assistive device is presented in this paper that achieves both capabilities to aid the VI person to (1) navigate safely from his/her current location (pose) to a desired destination in unknown environment, and (2) recognize his/her surrounding objects. The proposed system consists of the low cost sensors Neato XV-11 LiDAR, ultrasonic sensor, Raspberry pi camera (CameraPi), which are hold on a white cane. Hector SLAM based on 2D LiDAR is used to construct a 2D-map of unfamiliar environment. While A* path planning algorithm generates an optimal path on the given 2D hector map. Moreover, the temporary obstacles in front of VI person are detected by an ultrasonic sensor. The recognition system based on Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) technique is implemented in this work to predict object class besides enhance the navigation system. The interaction between the VI person and an assistive system is done by audio module (speech recognition and speech synthesis). The proposed system performance has been evaluated on various real-time experiments conducted in indoor scenarios, showing the efficiency of the proposed system.

Using a saddle-assistive device equipped with mechanical orthosis for walking of the person with incomplete spinal cord injury

2021 ◽  
pp. 095441192110201
Author(s):  
Akbar Hojjati Najafabadi ◽  
Saeid Amini ◽  
Farzam Farahmand
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Reaction Force ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Walking Ability ◽  
Vertical Force ◽  
Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury ◽  
Combined Application ◽  
Cord Injury

The majority of the people with incomplete spinal cord injury lose their walking ability, due to the weakness of their muscle motors in providing torque. As a result, developing assistive devices to improve their conditionis of great importance. In this study, a combined application of the saddle-assistive device (S-AD) and mechanical medial linkage or thosis was evaluated to improve the walking ability in patients with spinal cord injury in the gait laboratory. This mobile assistive device is called the saddle-assistive device equipped with medial linkage or thosis (S-ADEM). In this device, a mechanical orthosis was used in a wheeled walker as previously done in the literature. Initially, for evaluation of the proposed assistive device, the experimental results related to the forces and torques exerted on the feet and upper limbs of a person with the incomplete Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) during walking usingthe standard walker were compared with an those obtained from using the S-ADEM on an able-bodied subject. It was found that using this combination of assistive devices decreases the vertical force and torque on the foot at the time of walking by 53% and 48%, respectively compared to a standard walker. Moreover, the hand-reaction force on the upper limb was negligible instanding and walking positions usingthe introduced device. The findings of this study revealed that the walking ability of the patients with incomplete SCI was improved using the proposed device, which is due to the bodyweight support and the motion technology used in it.

scholarly journals Identical Limb Dynamics for Unilateral Impairments through Biomechanical Equivalence

Symmetry ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 705
Author(s):  
Fatemeh Rasouli ◽  
Kyle B. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Numerical Solution ◽  
Dynamic Models ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Human Walking ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Gait Rehabilitation ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Two Sides

Dynamic models, such as double pendulums, can generate similar dynamics as human limbs. They are versatile tools for simulating and analyzing the human walking cycle and performance under various conditions. They include multiple links, hinges, and masses that represent physical parameters of a limb or an assistive device. This study develops a mathematical model of dissimilar double pendulums that mimics human walking with unilateral gait impairment and establishes identical dynamics between asymmetric limbs. It introduces new coefficients that create biomechanical equivalence between two sides of an asymmetric gait. The numerical solution demonstrates that dissimilar double pendulums can have symmetric kinematic and kinetic outcomes. Parallel solutions with different physical parameters but similar biomechanical coefficients enable interchangeable designs that could be incorporated into gait rehabilitation treatments or alternative prosthetic and ambulatory assistive devices.

scholarly journals An Electro-Oculogram Based Vision System for Grasp Assistive Devices—A Proof of Concept Study

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 4515
Author(s):  
Rinku Roy ◽  
Manjunatha Mahadevappa ◽  
Kianoush Nazarpour
Keyword(s):  
Vision System ◽  
Extraction Procedure ◽  
Orientation Angle ◽  
Object Orientation ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Vision Systems ◽  
Signature Extraction ◽  
Voluntary Muscle ◽  
Als Patients

Humans typically fixate on objects before moving their arm to grasp the object. Patients with ALS disorder can also select the object with their intact eye movement, but are unable to move their limb due to the loss of voluntary muscle control. Though several research works have already achieved success in generating the correct grasp type from their brain measurement, we are still searching for fine controll over an object with a grasp assistive device (orthosis/exoskeleton/robotic arm). Object orientation and object width are two important parameters for controlling the wrist angle and the grasp aperture of the assistive device to replicate a human-like stable grasp. Vision systems are already evolved to measure the geometrical attributes of the object to control the grasp with a prosthetic hand. However, most of the existing vision systems are integrated with electromyography and require some amount of voluntary muscle movement to control the vision system. Due to that reason, those systems are not beneficial for the users with brain-controlled assistive devices. Here, we implemented a vision system which can be controlled through the human gaze. We measured the vertical and horizontal electrooculogram signals and controlled the pan and tilt of a cap-mounted webcam to keep the object of interest in focus and at the centre of the picture. A simple ‘signature’ extraction procedure was also utilized to reduce the algorithmic complexity and system storage capacity. The developed device has been tested with ten healthy participants. We approximated the object orientation and the size of the object and determined an appropriate wrist orientation angle and the grasp aperture size within 22 ms. The combined accuracy exceeded 75%. The integration of the proposed system with the brain-controlled grasp assistive device and increasing the number of grasps can offer more natural manoeuvring in grasp for ALS patients.

Application of Sit-To-Stand Assistive Device Based on Hip Support

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huaiqiang Zhang ◽  
Qiang Xue ◽  
Shuo Yang ◽  
Tongtong Wang ◽  
Binwei Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limb ◽  
Independent Living ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Technology Application ◽  
Assist Devices ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Sit To Stand

Background: Completing the transition from a sitting position to a standing position is a basic skill in people’s daily lives and is crucial for independent living. Lower limb dysfunction will bring many inconveniences into a person’s life and greatly affect their quality of life. Patients with lower limb dysfunction are a specialized group, and nursing problems for this group are becoming increasingly serious. Helping patients with lower limb dysfunction restore their lower limb mobility or assisting them to walk is a social problem necessary to be solved. Objective: : To review the recent sit-to-stand assistive devices based on hip support, classify them systematically and introduce their characteristics, including the mechanisms and the types of patients for which such mechanisms are applicable; to help patients with lower limb dysfunction or doctors (therapists) understand and choose a reasonable sit-to-stand assist device based on hip support. Methods: This paper summarizes literatures and patents about sit-to-stand assistive devices. From the aspects of structural characteristics, drive type and support modes based on the hip and applications situation, the advantages and disadvantages of the typical sit-to-stand assist devices are represented. Results: Current and future development trends on the structural characteristics, drive type and support modes based on the hip and applications situation of sit-to-stand assist devices are discussed to improve the humanization, modularization and applicability of sit-to-stand assist devices. Conclusion: Sit-to-stand assistive devices based on hip support can help patients improve the quality of their life, assist patients carrying out rehabilitation training, and delay the decline of lower limb function. However, the existing sit-to-stand assistive devices based on hip support need further improvement in the aspects of motion mechanism, new technology application and ergonomics design.

scholarly journals Foot and Ankle Patients Prefer a Hands-Free Single Crutch Compared to Standard Axillary Crutches

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 2473011418S0049
Author(s):  
Alicia Unangst ◽  
Kevin Martin ◽  
Anthony Mustovich ◽  
Jaime Chisholm
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Free Group ◽  
Perceived Exertion ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Physical Exertion ◽  
Assistive Devices ◽  
Rating Of Perceived Exertion ◽  
Assistive Device ◽  
Foot And Ankle ◽  
6 Minute Walk Test

Category: Ankle Introduction/Purpose: Following lower extremity surgery patients are often required to utilize assistive devices in order to perform activities of daily living. As technology and assistive devices continue to improve, providers are faced with selecting a device that is safe while providing high patient satisfaction and a quick return to actives. The purpose of the current study was to compare physical exertion and subject preference between a hands-free single crutch and standard axillary crutches in foot and ankle patients. Methods: A prospective, randomized crossover study was performed using 35 orthopedic foot and ankle patients from within one treatment facility. Each participant had demographic data and heart rate recorded. The patients were then randomized to an assistive device. All participants completed a 6-minute walk test (6MWT); immediately following each 6MWT heart rate, self-selected walking velocity (SSWV), perceived exertion using OMNI Rating of Perceived Exertion (OMNI-RPE) and perceived dyspnea using Modified Borg Dyspnea Scale was obtained. The patients then completed another 6MWT using the other assistive device and was asked the same questions. After completing both 6MWTs participants were asked which assistive device they would prefer to use. Results: A total of 35 patients were included with a median age of 32-year-old. The hands-free crutch was preferred by 86% of participants. Regression analysis was used to test if factors such as gender, height, weight, BMI predicted patient preference of iWalk vs. Crutch. None of these factors were found to be significant. Student t-tests and ANOVAs were performed separately for dyspnea, fatigue ratings, distance (meters) and heart rate between iWalk and crutch all were found to be significant (p<0.05, p=1.13e-11, p=2.29e-13, p=5.21e-05, respectively). The axillary crutch group had higher SSWV (0.8 vs 0.77m/s) but was not found to be significant. Neither group had any falls, however, 58% of axillary participants complained of axillary/hand pain while the hands-free group had 14% complain of proximal strap discomfort. Conclusion: Patients preferred the hands-free crutch while reporting lower perceived dyspnea and fatigue. The hands-free group demonstrated lower physiologic demand, which correlated with patient perception.

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