Enabling Independent Living for Individuals with Cervical Spinal Cord Injury via High-Density Electromyography Controlled Robotic Systems

通过高密度肌电图控制的机器人系统使颈脊髓损伤患者能够独立生活

• 批准号: 2341352
• 负责人: Zackory Erickson
• 金额: $ 59.98万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-15 至 2027-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2341352&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Enabling; Independent; Living; Individuals; Cervical

In the United States, there are over 100,000 individuals living with a spinal cord injury who have lost the use of their hands. The loss of hand function can dramatically change a person’s daily life, forcing them to rely on caregivers to provide assistance. This project aims to develop sensor-embedded garments designed to monitor muscle activity in individuals with tetraplegia resulting from spinal cord injuries. This sensorized garment detects muscle activity in the upper body, even for many people with spinal cord injuries who have lost hand mobility. By decoding and translating these muscle activities, the garment empowers individuals to take control of an assistive robot to perform a variety of household and self-care tasks, such as preparing and eating meals independently and conducting household chores. This research is poised to impact society by restoring a degree of autonomy and agency to individuals with spinal cord injury, promoting open-source development in wearable sensing, integrating research findings into classroom materials, and fostering inclusive education and mentorship for high school students from communities underserved in STEM.This collaborative project between Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh will introduce a high-density electromyography (HDEMG) wearable to capture neuromuscular signals and enable individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) to embody a physically assistive mobile manipulator. Towards this goal, the research project will make key foundational contributions along three thrusts: (1) The design of a sensorized upper-body garment embedded with HDEMG arrays, allowing the capture of residual myoelectric activity and recognition of gesture intent in individuals with SCI. The research team will develop learning-based pattern recognition techniques to interpret the myoelectric activity patterns of attempted arm, wrist, and hand gestures and predict the underlying motor function intent. (2) Development of an interface that enables individuals with SCI to embody an assistive robot by mapping myoelectric signals and inferred gestures to actuator control. The sensorized garment is designed to be comfortable and wearable throughout an entire day, which also necessitates the development of real-time calibration algorithms that allow for accurate myoelectric activity sensing over extended periods of time. (3) The team will conduct a series of in-lab evaluations with stakeholders in collaboration with our community partners. Individuals with SCI will use the wearable to teleoperate an assistive mobile manipulator and perform a range of physical household and self-care activities. These studies will quantify technology performance and efficacy, assess safety, and support iterative refinement and improvements to the key technology components with stakeholder feedback.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.

在美国，有超过 100,000 名脊髓损伤患者失去了双手。手部功能的丧失会极大地改变一个人的日常生活，迫使他们依赖护理人员提供帮助。旨在开发嵌入传感器的服装，旨在监测脊髓损伤导致的四肢瘫痪患者的肌肉活动，即使对于许多失去手部活动能力的脊髓损伤患者也能检测到上半身的肌肉活动。通过解码和翻译这些肌肉活动，该服装使个人能够控制辅助机器人来执行各种家庭和自我护理任务，例如独立准备和吃饭以及做家务。这项研究有望通过以下方式影响社会。恢复脊髓损伤患者一定程度的自主权和代理权，促进可穿戴传感领域的开源开发，将研究成果融入课堂材料，并为来自 STEM 服务不足的社区的高中生提供包容性教育和指导。卡内基梅隆大学和匹兹堡大学将推出一种高密度肌电图 (HDEMG) 可穿戴设备，用于捕获神经肌肉信号，并使脊髓损伤 (SCI) 患者能够使用物理辅助移动机械手，该研究项目将成为实现这一目标的关键。研究团队在三个方面做出了基础性贡献：(1) 设计了一种嵌入 HDEMG 阵列的传感上半身服装，可以捕获 SCI 患者的残余肌电活动并识别手势意图。将开发基于学习的模式识别技术，以解释尝试的手臂、手腕和手势的肌电活动模式，并预测潜在的运动功能意图 (2) 开发一个界面，使 SCI 患者能够通过映射来体现辅助机器人。传感服装设计为全天舒适且可穿戴，这也需要开发实时校准算法，以实现长时间精确的肌电活动传感。 (3) 该团队将与我们的社区合作伙伴合作，与利益相关者进行一系列实验室内评估，患有 SCI 的个人将使用可穿戴设备远程操作辅助移动机械手并执行一系列物理家庭和自我护理活动。将量化技术性能和功效、评估安全性并支持迭代细化和改进，以反映关键技术组件和利益相关者的反馈。该奖项是 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的评估进行评估，被认为值得支持影响审查标准。