Robotic Pelvis Interface Actuation for Interactive Therapy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current physical therapy methods for neurological and orthopedic injuries are limited by their repetitive nature, requiring one-on-one attention and lacking the ability to provide interactive and responsive assistance, resistance, and perturbation forces to effectively rehabilitate motor functions.
Innovation Solution
The development of robotic pelvis interfaces that include a subject attachment module, an arm assembly, and motors to actuate translation and rotation degrees of freedom, enabling interactive therapy by providing assistance, resistance, and perturbation forces, while maintaining low impedance to simulate free air movement and accommodate body weight support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If robotic pelvis interfaces are designed to provide interactive and responsive therapy with assistance, resistance, and perturbation forces, then therapeutic effectiveness is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic pelvis interface is divided into separate functional modules: a pelvis interface module for providing assistance, resistance, and perturbation forces; a subject attachment module for securing the patient; and an arm assembly with motors for actuation. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently while working together to achieve complex therapeutic functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The robotic pelvis interface is designed to perform multiple therapeutic functions through a single integrated system. The same arm assembly and motor system can provide assistance forces, resistance forces, and perturbation forces depending on the control mode, eliminating the need for multiple separate devices.
2Reliability
If the robotic interface provides interactive and responsive therapy, then motor function recovery is improved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic pelvis interface is designed to be automatically controlled based on real-time detection of subject motion and physiological signals. The system self-adjusts assistance, resistance, and perturbation forces according to the patient's movements and recovery progress, eliminating the need for manual adjustment and simplifying operation while maintaining high therapeutic effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors and control algorithms that continuously monitor subject motion and provide feedback to the motor control system. This closed-loop feedback enables the robotic interface to automatically adapt to the patient's movements and physiological state, providing responsive therapy without requiring complex manual operation.
3Productivity
If the robotic interface provides assistance forces to aid pelvic motion, then productivity of therapy is improved, but loss of energy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The robotic pelvis interface provides assistance forces in a periodic, rhythmic pattern that mirrors natural pelvic motion during walking. The motor system activates during specific phases of the gait cycle when assistance is needed and remains inactive or provides resistance during other phases, optimizing energy efficiency while maintaining high therapy productivity through repeated cycles of motion and recovery.
Data Source
AI summary
A pelvis interface may include a subject attachment module including a waist attachment and a back attachment. The interface may further include an arm assembly coupled to the subject attachment module, the arm assembly including a plurality of arms so coupled to one another and/or to the subject attachment module as to permit the subject attachment module at least one pelvis translation degree of freedom and at least one pelvis rotation degree of freedom. The interface may further include motors so coupled to the arm assembly as to actuate at least one pelvis translation degree of freedom and at least one pelvis rotation degree of freedom.