STTR Phase I: Motion Assisted Hand Exoskeleton with Virtual Reality (MAVHEXO) for Post Stroke Rehabilitation

STTR 第一阶段：用于中风后康复的虚拟现实运动辅助手部外骨骼 (MAVHEXO)

• 批准号: 1843880
• 负责人: Veena Somareddy
• 金额: $ 22.49万
• 依托单位: NEUROLOGICAL REHABILITATION VIRTUAL REALITY, L.L.C.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-01 至 2020-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1843880&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: STTR; Phase; Motion; Assisted; Hand

This Small Technology Transfer Phase I project will realize a sensorized soft robotic hand exoskeleton coupled with an interactive 3D virtual reality (VR) gaming environment that provides fine motor training for stroke patients' hands. There is a currently a lack of available devices that provide fine sensory and motor training of the hand. The potential benefit is to fill this niche market opportunity, especially when considering the high incidence of hand disability due to stroke and other neuromusculoskeletal injuries. This system can provide structured therapy sessions which requires minimal therapist supervision while improving patient engagement which enhances the broader participation. As a complimentary technology for current rehabilitation practice, it has a potential to lower health care and labor costs associated with neurological rehabilitation. The outpatient physical rehabilitation market is a $30 billion industry growing at a rate of 7% in the US, mainly due to the growing elderly population. The robot-assisted rehabilitation market is expected to grow dramatically, reaching $2 billion by 2020. As robot-assisted treatment becomes widely available, the customer base will grow from acute care clinics to long-term rehabilitation centers and finally to home-based care. The intellectual merit of this project results from the combination of a soft robotic system with fine motor control synced to VR games for both sensory and motor stimuli. The robotic exoskeleton provides individual joint control to practice complex grasping while the VR environment provides targeted rehabilitation games. This system addresses the fine motor control needs that have not been met by current hand rehabilitation devices, which only offer gross motions. Adaptive algorithms will adjust to the patient's level of ability to accomplish the assigned tasks in virtual game scenarios, providing accessibility for a wide range of population with different levels of severity. There are three main goals for the project. First, we will develop a VR environment simulating real-world hand motion via interaction with objects in an immersive game. Second, we will develop adaptive control algorithms for the soft robotic exoskeleton to provide active assistive motion in performing rehabilitation-oriented tasks in the VR environment. Third, a pilot study will be conducted with both healthy individuals and hand-impaired stroke patients. The Phase I project will produce a system with assistive hand motion in a targeted rehabilitation virtual game environment, which can be tested for efficacy in a larger clinical population of stroke survivors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小型技术转让第一阶段项目将实现传感软机器人手外骨骼，与交互式 3D 虚拟现实 (VR) 游戏环境相结合，为中风患者的手部提供精细运动训练。目前缺乏提供手部精细感觉和运动训练的可用设备。潜在的好处是填补这一利基市场机会，特别是考虑到中风和其他神经肌肉骨骼损伤导致手部残疾的高发生率。该系统可以提供结构化的治疗课程，需要最少的治疗师监督，同时提高患者的参与度，从而增强更广泛的参与。作为当前康复实践的补充技术，它有可能降低与神经康复相关的医疗保健和劳动力成本。门诊假肢康复市场是一个价值 300 亿美元的行业，在美国以 7% 的速度增长，主要是由于老年人口的不断增长。机器人辅助康复市场预计将大幅增长，到 2020 年将达到 20 亿美元。随着机器人辅助治疗的广泛应用，客户群将从急症护理诊所发展到长期康复中心，最后发展到家庭护理。该项目的智力优势源于软机器人系统与精细运动控制的结合，该系统与 VR 游戏同步以提供感官和运动刺激。机器人外骨骼提供单独的关节控制来练习复杂的抓握，而 VR 环境则提供有针对性的康复游戏。该系统解决了目前仅提供粗略运动的手部康复设备无法满足的精细运动控制需求。自适应算法将根据患者在虚拟游戏场景中完成指定任务的能力水平进行调整，为具有不同严重程度的广泛人群提供可访问性。该项目有三个主要目标。首先，我们将开发一个 VR 环境，通过与沉浸式游戏中的物体交互来模拟现实世界的手部动作。其次，我们将为软机器人外骨骼开发自适应控制算法，以在 VR 环境中执行康复任务时提供主动辅助运动。第三，将对健康个体和手部受损的中风患者进行试点研究。第一阶段项目将在有针对性的康复虚拟游戏环境中生产一个具有辅助手部动作的系统，可以在更大的中风幸存者临床人群中测试其功效。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过评估被认为值得支持利用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准。