Team Members
- Katerina Gregoriou
Timeline
Finish debugging sweater prototypeStatus - Build separate sweater for this project, or just add additional FLORA to wrist?
Compile example code from MazenStatus
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Project Video
Video due and should be uploaded to your page by 6/5. See previous course pages for example videos.
Videos should be less than 7 minutes.
Background
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common motor disorder in childhood, affecting over 17 million individuals worldwide (Cerebral Palsy Foundation). The majority of these individuals are unable to perform activities of daily living (ADL) due to wrist contracture, one of the most common symptoms of the spastic subtype of CP. As a result, these individuals are often forced to rely on a caregiver, stifling their independence. Furthermore, because a cure does not yet exist for CP, in order to improve their symptoms they often spend a significant part of their lives in physical or occupational therapy, in addition to trying various assistive devices which range from exoskeletons at $50-100k to rigid braces. The lifetime care cost for an individual with CP is over $1 million (Cerebral Palsy Foundation).
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The overarching goal of this project—which extends beyond the work of ME 485—is to develop assistive clothing for individuals with movement disorders, first starting with CP. The two driving motivations are to 1) facilitate increased independence in individuals with movement disorders, and 2) to significantly decrease the financial barrier to treatment. The first prototypes draw therapeutic principles from literature on vibration therapy and Functional Electrical Stimulus (FES). Katusic et al. conclude that vibration therapy may reduce improve motor function and decrease spasticity. Furthermore, Wright and Granat's findings on FES on the wrist extensor muscles in children with CP showed increased wrist extension and increased overall hand function during treatment and at follow-up.
To tie in the literature with the overarching goals, we will build an assistive sweater that detects intent—in this case, reaching for an object—with two IMUs. One Adafruit 9-DOF accelerometer/gyroscope/compass will be sewn on the garment just under the right armpit, and the other will be sewn near the right bicep. An additional set of two IMUs will be swen at the inside of the wrist and on the outside of the hand in order to detect a change in wrist flexion angle. For the therapeutic component, a vibrating motor will be sewn in at the wrist extensors, and will be activated after a determined change in position of the upper arm.
For the scope of this class, our goal is to convert IMU data from the aforementioned four sensors into live-stream kinematic data in OpenSim. Our hope is that such a system will allow us to test in real time the therapeutic effectiveness of different sensor placements, as well as sensor placement on new garments, such as for the lower extremities.
Research Question(s)
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Methods
This can include:
- Model(s) used
- Simulation strategy
- Computational tools
- Experimental procedures/data
- Flow chart of methods
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To be completed by 6/5 (but you should have a plan by 5/8).
Results
This can include:
- Videos of simulations
- Graphs of results
- Tables of results
- Other figures
- Relevant equations
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Limitations.
To be completed by 6/5.
Future Work
- What were some challenges you faced?
- Did you address all the research questions you aimed to?
- What future studies could be done to address these challenges?
- Based on your results, what are the next questions to be studied?
- How does this advance the field of biomechanics on a larger scale?
To be completed by 6/5.
Acknowledgements
You should acknowledge any help you received on your project. Collaboration is always encouraged but must be acknowledged.
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