Adaptive & Individualized AAC

自适应

• 批准号: 10600065
• 负责人: Gianluca De Luca
• 金额: $ 58.49万
• 依托单位: ALTEC, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10600065
• 关键词: Address; Algorithms; American; Augmentative and Alternative Communication; Boston; Brain Stem Infarctions; Calibration; Caregiver support; Caregivers; Cerebral Palsy; Clinical; Collaborations; Communication; Communication Methods; Communication impairment; Compensation; Computer software; Computers; Drops; Electromyography; Evaluation; Family; Forehead; Frustration; Genetic Transcription; Gestures; Goals; Guillain Barré Syndrome; Hand; Head; Hospitals; Individual; Intuition; Learning; Letters; Life; Maintenance; Manuals; Methods; Mission; Modification; Motor; Motor Activity; Movement; Nerve Degeneration; Neuromuscular Diseases; Participant; Performance; Persons; Phase; Population; Quality of life; Rehabilitation therapy; Research Personnel; Residual state; Running; Scanning; Socialization; Speech; Spinal cord injury; Stroke; Surface; Surveys; System; Tablet Computer; Target Populations; Technology; Testing; Time; Traumatic Brain Injury; Universities; Work; Workload; alternative communication; automated algorithm; communication device; data exchange; deafness; design; dexterity; disability; experience; foot; handheld mobile device; improved; motor impairment; novel; point of care; preference; rehabilitation engineering; rehabilitation science; sensor; usability; user friendly software; visual tracking; wireless; wireless communication

Nearly 5 million Americans require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods to meet their daily communication needs. Some of these high-need individuals have motor impairments so severe (due to conditions such as brainstem stroke, traumatic brain injury, Guillain Barré syndrome, and cerebral palsy, among other disabilities) that they do not have the manual dexterity to control AAC technology and require alternative access methods (such as eye-tracking, head-tracking, or switch-scanning). Existing solutions, however, require extensive maintenance, frequent re-calibrations, and manual interface modifications that must be carried out with continued assistance from a caregiver or by compensating via their own residual motor activity. The excessive workload of adapting to these alternative communication methods are among the leading causes of AAC abandonment, ultimately depriving this population of their fundamental right to communication. To meet the critical communication needs of individuals with severe motor impairments, we propose the first AAC device comprising a versatile access method that automatically learns and customizes a keyboard interface to the residual motor function of the individual. In Phase I, we established the feasibility of developing a personalized keyboard interface (limited to A–Z, space) based on an individual’s cursor movement and target selection abilities using a combined surface electromyographic (sEMG) and inertial (IMU) access method placed on their forehead. When evaluated amongst individuals with and without severe motor impairments, our AAC solution achieved greater information transfer rates (ITRs) over the standard QWERTY keyboard. Having successfully demonstrated this proof-of-concept, we are collaborating with speech researchers and clinicians at Boston University, MA (STEPP Lab for Sensorimotor Rehabilitation Engineering) and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital, NE (Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering) to advance our Phase I system into a pre- commercial MyAACTM system comprising versatile access method and personalized, comprehensive communication software. We will achieve this by developing hardware to support streamlined access across multiple points on the body (Aim 1), designing automated algorithms to rapidly create an expanded AAC interface, inclusive of letters, numbers, symbols, emojis, and word completion options, that is personalized based on the residual motor function of user-specific access points (Aim 2), creating software for point-of-care use of the access technology and interface, and evaluating the resulting MyAACTM system for communication efficacy in individuals with severe motor impairments (Aim 3). Our milestone will be to demonstrate that MyAACTM improves ITR and user experience over conventional AAC devices. The final MyAACTM deliverable will be easily integrated with existing AAC tablets and mobile devices to provide those in need of alternative communication methods with an automatically customized, efficient, and intuitive solution to restore communication access in their daily lives.

近500万美国人需要增强和替代沟通（AAC）的方法来满足他们的 日常沟通需求。这些高需求的个体中的一些人的运动障碍如此严重（由于 脑干中风，脑部创伤性脑损伤，吉兰·布雷氏综合症和脑瘫等疾病 其他疾病），他们没有手动敏捷性来控制AAC技术，需要替代 访问方法（例如眼球跟踪，头部跟踪或开关扫描）。但是，现有的解决方案需要 必须进行广泛的维护，经常重新校准和必须进行的手动接口修改 在护理人员的持续协助或通过自己的残留运动活动来补偿。这 适应这些替代交流方法的工作量过多是主要原因 AAC放弃，最终剥夺了该人群的基本交流权。见面 严重运动障碍的人的批判性沟通需求，我们提出了第一个AAC 完成多功能访问方法的设备，该方法自动学习并自定义键盘接口到 个人的残留运动功能。在第一阶段，我们确定了开发一个的可行性 基于个人的光标运动和目标 使用表面肌电图（SEMG）和惯性（IMU）的组合选择能力放置 在他们的额头上。当在患有和没有严重运动障碍的个体中评估时，我们的AAC 解决方案比标准QWERTY键盘实现了更高的信息传输率（ITR）。有 成功证明了这一概念证明，我们正在与演讲研究人员和临床医生合作 马萨诸塞州波士顿大学（感觉运动康复工程的Stepp实验室）和麦当娜康复 东北医院（康复科学与工程研究所），将我们的I期系统推向前 商业肌无力系统，说明多功能访问方法和个性化，全面 通信软件。我们将通过开发硬件来支持精简访问来实现这一目标 身体上的多个点（AIM 1），设计自动化算法以快速创建扩展的AAC 界面，包括字母，数字，符号，表情符号和单词完成选项，这是个性化的 关于用户特定访问点的残留运动功能（AIM 2），创建用于护理点的软件 访问技术和界面，并评估由此产生的乳清系统的沟通效率系统 在患有严重运动障碍的个体中（AIM 3）。我们的里程碑将证明肌酸 改善ITR和用户体验，而不是传统的AAC设备。最终的肌分子可交付很容易 与现有的AAC平板电脑和移动设备集成，以提供需要替代通信的人 具有自动自定义，高效和直观解决方案的方法，以还原通信访问 他们的日常生活。