BIOMEDICAL PROJECTS - REHABILITATION / PROSTHESES /PHYSIOTHERAPY

REHABILITATION / PROSTHESES / PHYSIOTHERAPY PROJECTS

1.) A microcomputer keyboard substitute for the disabled
2.) Control and communication for physically disabled people, based on vestigial signals from the body
3.) Guidance of wheel chair using electro-oculography
4.) Adaptive non contact gesture-based system for augmentative communication
5.) Low cost assist device for deaf and dum
6.) Hardware implementation of a stimulus artifact rejection algorithm in closed loop neuro-prosthesis
7.) Design of myoelectric controlled prosthetic hand / arm / leg
8.) A Hybrid Approach for Measurement of Normal Pressures Between Residual Limb and Prosthetic Socket
9.) Electrically driven artificial arm
10.) Multi-freedom myoelectric prostheses with tactile, temperature & pressure sensing
11.) Experimental development of a sensory control system for an upper limb myoelectric prosthesis with cosmetic covering
12.) EMG Prosthetic Hand Controller Discriminating Ten Motions using Real-time Learning Method
13.) Development of a Prosthetic Hand Using Adaptable Control Method for Human Characteristics
14.) Fuzzy-control of a hand orthosis for restoring tip pinch, lateral pinch, and cylindrical prehensions to patients with elbow flexion intact
15.) A fuzzy clustering neural network architecture for multifunction upper-limb prosthesis
16.) Levenberg-Marquardt Based Neural Network Control for a Five-fingered Prosthetic Hand
17.) Design and Control of an Exoskeleton System for Human Upper-Limb Motion Assist
18.) A Five-fingered Underactuated Prosthetic Hand Control Scheme
19.) A CAN-based distributed Control System for Upper Limb Myoelectric Prosthesis
20.) Lift assist arm brace
21.) Simulation of an Above-Elbow Myoelectric Prosthetic Arm For Development of an Implanted Myoelectric Control System
22.) An Innovative High-Level Human-Robot Interaction for Disabled Persons
23.) Communication aid for speech disabled people using Morse codification
24.) Automatic Morse-Coded Recognition with Adaptive Variable-Ratio Threshold Prediction for Physically Impaired Persons / Unstable Morse code recognition system with back propagation neural network for person with disabilities / Unstable Morse code recognition system with Expert-Gating Neural network / Morse code recognition system with fuzzy algorithm for disabled persons
25.) EOG-Based Glasses-Type Wireless Mouse for the Disabled
26.) Development of Meal Assistance Orthosis for Disabled Persons with Human Intention Extraction through EOG Signals / Determination of Target Position of Meal Assistance Orthosis Using EOG signal and Dish Image
27.) A Practical EMG-based Human-Computer Interface For Users With Motor Disabilities
28.) Feasibility of Electroculography as a Command Interface for a High Tetraplegia Neural Prosthesis
29.) Conversion of EEG Activity Into Cursor Movement by a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI)
30.) Developing the user-system interface for a communications system for ALS patients and others with severe neurological impairments.
31.) EOG Single Switch Morse code Translate Input Device for Individuals with The Motor Neuron Disease
32.) Wearable EMG based HCI for electric-powered wheelchair users with motor disabilities
33.) A flexible, portable system for neuromuscular stimulation in the paralyzed upper extremity
34.) A programmable electronic stimulator for FES system for physically impaired / A versatile multichannel direct-synthesized electrical stimulator for FES applications
35.) A versatile microcontroller based multichannel stimulator for skeletal muscle cardiac assist
36.) The development of a knee locker with closed-loop functional electrical stimulation (FES) for hemiplegia in gait training
37.) A neuro-control system for the knee joint position control with quadriceps stimulation.
38.) Feedback regulation of hand grasp opening and contact force during stimulation of paralyzed muscle
39.) Functional neuromuscular stimulation for combined control of elbow extension and hand grasp in C5 and C6 quadriplegics.
40.) Synthesis of hand grasp using functional neuromuscular stimulation
41.) A hybrid computerized neuromuscular stimulation system for Upper limb functions
regained in quadriplegia
42.) A noninvasive functional electrical stimulation system with patient-driven loop for hand function restoration
43.) A Text Input System Developed by Using Lips Image Recognition Based on LabVIEW for the Serious Disabled
44.) Biologically Inspired Autoadaptive Control of a knee prosthesis

BIONIC ARM VIDEO

(Video of Bionic Arm)

UAE STUDENT DEVELOPED LOW-COST PROSTHETIC ARM

An united arab emirates (UAE) engineering student has developed an artificial hand known as the Myoelectric Hand Prosthesis. The prosthetic hand costs just 500 Dirhams whereas a similar device would cost 30,000 Dirhams in Europe.

Abdul Hafidh Al Zubaidi, who is in his twenties and set to complete his senior Bio-Medical Engineering project, was inspired to design a prosthetic hand after seeing some of his friends who lost their limbs in car accidents.



"The prosthetic hand I created is available in the UAE but it is mass produced in Europe, and commands a high price.""The good thing about my robotic hand is that it is affordable. I would love to help many poor people out there who need a myoelectric arm. If I can manage mass production of these devices it would cost me less than Dh500 and I would not charge people more than that," said Al Zubaidi.

The prosthetic hand allows amputees to have independent, easy, efficient and natural-like control of the artificial fingers. The myoelectric control detects signals from the muscle during contraction and is processed and analysed to be used as control signal for the prosthetic hand.

The control was fully developed in the lab of the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT), Abu Dhabi Men's College by Al Zubaidi, under the supervision of Dr Michael Jacobson and David Kelly. The project was selected for the Institute of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering competition.

The Biomedical Engineering programme involves the application of engineering in medicine and biology and is part of the Abu Dhabi Men's College curriculum. The project was sponsored by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

The prosthetic hand contains a grip function, which enables the amputee to hold and carry objects with the usage of myoelectricity which replaces mechanical controls. "If someone lost their hand I can connect some electrodes to the remains of the muscles. My main goal in designing this project was to use myoelectric activity to control a hand grasp prosthesis by replacing the mechanical controls; the purpose was a simple-to-use, self-controlled hand; high speed response; increase patient versatility; natural like movement and an affordable end product," said the student.
It took Al Zubaidi two semesters to complete his project.

He used transistors, integrated circuits, operational amplifiers, aluminium frame and silicon as materials for the hand. He had several rounds of discussions with experts in the field, including neurologists, to understand how the human body works, and worked closely with engineers to assess technicalities involved in producing movement and hand grasp.

"I just wanted to have a clear picture. The college's equipment used in the manufacture was not cheap. However, the hand itself cost Dh500 only, including fingers and palm; the motor inside to control the fingers and logic control which is the most advanced part," said Al Zubaidi.

Al Zubaidi intends to continue his research next semester in a design class, where he will be adding sensors that connect to an end wire connected to the upper arm with live skin. This thermo sensor will give a small microelectric shock to the amputee to have a feel for temperature when grasping a hot or cold object.

PESRONS WITH BIONIC ARM

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF FIRST BIONIC ARTIFICIAL ARM

(CLICK PICTURE TO ENLARGE)

A woman fitted with the world's first "bionic arm" controlled by thought alone has been given back a sense of feeling.

Claudia Mitchell, 26, a former US marine, regained the ability to carry out simple tasks such as cutting up food when she was fitted with the prosthetic arm last year.



Now doctors have re-routed the ends of arm nerves to a patch of skin on her chest — allowing her to regain the sensation of having her lost hand touched.

A new study of her wrist, hand and elbow function found she could use the artificial limb intuitively and could perform tasks four times quicker than with a conventional prosthesis.

Ms Mitchell, who had her left arm amputated after a motorcycle accident, told doctors: "I just think about moving my hand and elbow, and they move. I think, 'I want my hand open' and it happens. My original prosthesis wasn't worth wearing — this one is."

In a commentary published in The Lancet medical journal, Dr Leigh Hochberg, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, said early results for the new operating system for the limb were "an important step forward in the seamless integration of replacement limbs into the body".

Dr Hochberg said the next stage would be for touch sensors on the artificial hand transmitting signals back to the re-routed nerves, allowing patients to have accurate sensations of touch, temperature and joint position.

Motorised hooks, hands, wrists and elbows are currently available but movement is usually slow and awkward. Scientists have long been working to create a limb that is controlled by the brain and works well while looking near-normal.

The new technique — called targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) — involves re-routing nerves that once controlled the patient's arm to a patch on the chest, where they grow into muscles. Electrodes on the surface of the chest skin pick up brain signals from the nerves and send signals to operate the artificial arm.



When Ms Mitchell thinks about moving her hand or arm, the nerves react as if they were still leading all the way down her arm and into the elbow and fingers.

If someone touches the patch of skin on her chest it feel as if they are touching her hand. Scientists are working on sensors for the artificial hand that would communicate with the re-routed nerves to provide a patient with the same sensations they would have felt before amputation.

Dr Todd Kuiken, from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the leader of the medical team that developed the technology, said: "The brain doesn't know that these nerves are connected to different tissue or muscle."

Ms Mitchell began to feel the muscles in her chest twitching when she tried to close her hand or bend her elbow three months after the operation to re-route the nerves. After six months the new 11lb artificial limb was fitted and she became proficient in using it after a few days.

She practised using the limb four to five hours a day, five to six days a week, and was able to operate her hand and elbow "intuitively" within seven weeks of the fitting.

Pressing pressure-sensitive buttons allowed the wrist to rotate at the same time as other movements were being made.

Ms Mitchell was able to complete a task involving moving blocks into boxes four times quicker with the new prosthesis than the conventional one.

In tests of her ability to put on make-up, eat, clean and do the laundry, the bionic arm helped her perform up to six times quicker.

Dr Kuiken, whose work is funded by the US National Institutes of Health, said eight patients had been fitted with the new system, and that it was hoped US soldiers returning from Iraq could benefit from the technology.

He added: "With training, the patient became proficient in use of the prosthetic within a few days.

"She was able to operate the hand, wrist and elbow simultaneously.

"She reported that operation of the hand and elbow was very intuitive: when she thought of opening the hand, closing the hand, bending the elbow, or straightening the elbow, the prosthesis responded.

"Whether the improved function is enough to keep the patients wearing their devices in years to come, or whether they adapt to their new control even better and show greater functional gain remains to be seen."

CONNECTING BRAINS TO ARTIFICIAL BRAIN

Northwestern University researchers of washington have pioneered a technique called targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR), which allows an artificial limb to respond directly to the brain’s signals, making it much easier to use than traditional motorized body parts.



The technique, which is still under development, allows wearers to open and close their artificial hands and bend and straighten their artificial elbows nearly as naturally as their own arms.

“The idea is that when you lose your arm, you lose the motors, the muscles and the structural elements of the bones. But the control information should still be there in the residual nerves,” said Dr Todd A Kuiken, a physiatrist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and professor at Northwestern University.

He conceived the idea of taking the residual nerves that once carried the commands from the brain to produce arm, wrist and hand movements, and of connecting them to the chest muscles so that the signals can be used to move the artificial limb.

Motorised prosthetic arms are known to produce two arm movements - open and close hand and bend and straighten elbow. However, Kuiken’s team has revealed that TMR has the potential to provide an even greater number of arm and hand movements, beyond the four they’ve already achieved.

A report on the project titled Decoding a new neural-machine interface for control of artificial limbs, published in the Journal of Neurophysiology, reveals that the researchers have begun work with two US Army medical centres to help soldiers who have lost limbs.

“We’re excited to move forward in doing this surgery with our soldiers some day. We’ve been able to demonstrate remarkable control of artificial limbs and it’s an exciting neural machine interface that provides a lot of hope,” Kuiken said.

During the study, the researchers placed between 79-128 electrodes from an electromyogram (EMG)—which picks up the electrical signal that the muscle emits when it contracts—onto the chest muscles of five patients to see if they could identify the unique EMG patterns emitted with 16 different elbow, wrist, hand, thumb and finger movements they asked the patients to perform.

Analysing EMG signals from each of the 16 movements using advanced signal processing techniques enabled the researchers to recognise the signals associated with the different arm movements with 95 per cent accuracy.

The researchers now plan to study whether or not the microprocessor of the artificial arm can be programmed to perform such moves as may enable an individual to hold a baseball, pick up a pen or grasp a tool.