Recent trends in assistive technology for mobility

Loss of physical mobility makes maximal participation in desired activities more difficult and in the worst case fully prevents participation. This paper surveys recent work in assistive technology to improve mobility for persons with a disability, drawing on examples observed during a tour of academic and industrial research sites in Europe. The underlying theme of this recent work is a more seamless integration of the capabilities of the user and the assistive technology. This improved integration spans diverse technologies, including powered wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, functional electrical stimulation, and wearable exoskeletons. Improved integration is being accomplished in three ways: 1) improving the assistive technology mechanics; 2) improving the user-technology physical interface; and 3) sharing of control between the user and the technology. We provide an overview of these improvements in user-technology integration and discuss whether such improvements have the potential to be transformative for people with mobility impairments.

[1]  Alberto Leardini,et al.  Mobility of the human ankle and the design of total ankle replacement. , 2004, Clinical orthopaedics and related research.

[2]  Hugh Stewart,et al.  Factors influencing the decision to abandon manual wheelchairs for three individuals with a spinal cord injury , 2002, Disability and rehabilitation.

[3]  J. S. Rietman,et al.  Gait analysis in prosthetics: Opinions, ideas and conclusions , 2002, Prosthetics and orthotics international.

[4]  Maysam Ghovanloo,et al.  Evaluation of a wireless wearable tongue–computer interface by individuals with high-level spinal cord injuries , 2010, Journal of neural engineering.

[5]  Brendan Z. Allison,et al.  Brain-Computer Interfaces , 2010 .

[6]  José Luis Pons Rovira,et al.  Immediate effects of a controllable knee ankle foot orthosis for functional compensation of gait in patients with proximal leg weakness , 2007, Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing.

[7]  Just L. Herder,et al.  Ability to hold grasped objects by underactuated hands: Performance prediction and experiments , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[8]  Matthew W Bundle,et al.  The fastest runner on artificial legs: different limbs, similar function? , 2009, Journal of applied physiology.

[9]  Alberto Esquenazi,et al.  Unilateral upper-limb loss: satisfaction and prosthetic-device use in veterans and servicemembers from Vietnam and OIF/OEF conflicts. , 2010, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[10]  Strahinja Došen,et al.  Cognitive vision system for control of dexterous prosthetic hands: Experimental evaluation , 2010, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[11]  Carmelo Masala,et al.  From disablement to enablement: Conceptual models of disability in the 20th century , 2008, Disability and rehabilitation.

[12]  Robert Riener,et al.  Complementary limb motion estimation for the control of active knee prostheses , 2011, Biomedizinische Technik. Biomedical engineering.

[13]  S. Micera,et al.  On the control of a robot hand by extracting neural signals from the PNS: Preliminary results from a human implantation , 2009, 2009 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[14]  Adamantios Arampatzis,et al.  Biomechanics of double transtibial amputee sprinting using dedicated sprinting prostheses , 2008 .

[15]  E. Biddiss,et al.  Upper-Limb Prosthetics: Critical Factors in Device Abandonment , 2007, American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation.

[16]  B Phillips,et al.  Predictors of assistive technology abandonment. , 1993, Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNA.

[17]  F. Mussa-Ivaldi,et al.  Functional reorganization of upper-body movement after spinal cord injury , 2010, Experimental Brain Research.

[18]  Lotte N. S. Andreasen Struijk,et al.  Clinical evaluation of wireless inductive tongue computer interface for control of computers and assistive devices , 2010, 2010 Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology.

[19]  Castronovo,et al.  An ambulatory BCI-driven tremor suppression system based on functional electrical stimulation , 2011 .

[20]  Eduardo Rocon,et al.  Biologically based design of an actuator system for a knee–ankle–foot orthosis , 2009 .

[21]  Theodore W. Berger,et al.  Brain-Computer Interfaces: An international assessment of research and development trends , 2008 .

[22]  Mary Beth Brown,et al.  Running-specific prostheses permit energy cost similar to nonamputees. , 2009, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[23]  Hugh M Herr,et al.  Counterpoint: Artificial legs do not make artificially fast running speeds possible. , 2010, Journal of applied physiology.

[24]  D. Reinkensmeyer,et al.  Technologies and combination therapies for enhancing movement training for people with a disability , 2012, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[25]  Brice Rebsamen,et al.  A brain controlled wheelchair to navigate in familiar environments. , 2010, IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[26]  C. Neuper,et al.  Combining Brain–Computer Interfaces and Assistive Technologies: State-of-the-Art and Challenges , 2010, Front. Neurosci..

[27]  S. Davis,et al.  Thermoregulation in multiple sclerosis. , 2010, Journal of applied physiology.

[28]  Etienne Burdet,et al.  Evaluation of a Collaborative Wheelchair System in Cerebral Palsy and Traumatic Brain Injury Users , 2009, Neurorehabilitation and neural repair.

[29]  R. Stein,et al.  Long-Term Therapeutic and Orthotic Effects of a Foot Drop Stimulator on Walking Performance in Progressive and Nonprogressive Neurological Disorders , 2010, Neurorehabilitation and neural repair.

[30]  Luca Citi,et al.  Decoding Information From Neural Signals Recorded Using Intraneural Electrodes: Toward the Development of a Neurocontrolled Hand Prosthesis , 2010, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[31]  Jose L Pons,et al.  Rehabilitation Exoskeletal Robotics , 2010, IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine.

[32]  Strahinja Došen,et al.  Transradial prosthesis: artificial vision for control of prehension. , 2011, Artificial organs.