Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although robot therapy is progressively becoming an accepted method of treatment for stroke survivors, few studies have investigated how to adapt the robot/subject interaction forces in an automatic way. The paper is a feasibility st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2010-03-01
|
| Series: | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| Online Access: | http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/7/1/13 |
| _version_ | 1818641421059489792 |
|---|---|
| author | Morasso Pietro Giannoni Psiche Squeri Valentina Casadio Maura Vergaro Elena Sanguineti Vittorio |
| author_facet | Morasso Pietro Giannoni Psiche Squeri Valentina Casadio Maura Vergaro Elena Sanguineti Vittorio |
| author_sort | Morasso Pietro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although robot therapy is progressively becoming an accepted method of treatment for stroke survivors, few studies have investigated how to adapt the robot/subject interaction forces in an automatic way. The paper is a feasibility study of a novel self-adaptive robot controller to be applied with continuous tracking movements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The haptic robot Braccio di Ferro is used, in relation with a tracking task. The proposed control architecture is based on three main modules: 1) a force field generator that combines a non linear attractive field and a viscous field; 2) a performance evaluation module; 3) an adaptive controller. The first module operates in a continuous time fashion; the other two modules operate in an intermittent way and are triggered at the end of the current block of trials. The controller progressively decreases the gain of the force field, within a session, but operates in a non monotonic way between sessions: it remembers the minimum gain achieved in a session and propagates it to the next one, which starts with a block whose gain is greater than the previous one. The initial assistance gains are chosen according to a minimal assistance strategy. The scheme can also be applied with closed eyes in order to enhance the role of proprioception in learning and control.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The preliminary results with a small group of patients (10 chronic hemiplegic subjects) show that the scheme is robust and promotes a statistically significant improvement in performance indicators as well as a recalibration of the visual and proprioceptive channels. The results confirm that the minimally assistive, self-adaptive strategy is well tolerated by severely impaired subjects and is beneficial also for less severe patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The experiments provide detailed information about the stability and robustness of the adaptive controller of robot assistance that could be quite relevant for the design of future large scale controlled clinical trials. Moreover, the study suggests that including continuous movement in the repertoire of training is acceptable also by rather severely impaired subjects and confirms the stabilizing effect of alternating vision/no vision trials already found in previous studies.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:26:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4c411fb742584931b8354803d1988d63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1743-0003 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:26:53Z |
| publishDate | 2010-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| spelling | doaj.art-4c411fb742584931b8354803d1988d632022-12-21T22:11:59ZengBMCJournal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation1743-00032010-03-01711310.1186/1743-0003-7-13Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movementsMorasso PietroGiannoni PsicheSqueri ValentinaCasadio MauraVergaro ElenaSanguineti Vittorio<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although robot therapy is progressively becoming an accepted method of treatment for stroke survivors, few studies have investigated how to adapt the robot/subject interaction forces in an automatic way. The paper is a feasibility study of a novel self-adaptive robot controller to be applied with continuous tracking movements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The haptic robot Braccio di Ferro is used, in relation with a tracking task. The proposed control architecture is based on three main modules: 1) a force field generator that combines a non linear attractive field and a viscous field; 2) a performance evaluation module; 3) an adaptive controller. The first module operates in a continuous time fashion; the other two modules operate in an intermittent way and are triggered at the end of the current block of trials. The controller progressively decreases the gain of the force field, within a session, but operates in a non monotonic way between sessions: it remembers the minimum gain achieved in a session and propagates it to the next one, which starts with a block whose gain is greater than the previous one. The initial assistance gains are chosen according to a minimal assistance strategy. The scheme can also be applied with closed eyes in order to enhance the role of proprioception in learning and control.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The preliminary results with a small group of patients (10 chronic hemiplegic subjects) show that the scheme is robust and promotes a statistically significant improvement in performance indicators as well as a recalibration of the visual and proprioceptive channels. The results confirm that the minimally assistive, self-adaptive strategy is well tolerated by severely impaired subjects and is beneficial also for less severe patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The experiments provide detailed information about the stability and robustness of the adaptive controller of robot assistance that could be quite relevant for the design of future large scale controlled clinical trials. Moreover, the study suggests that including continuous movement in the repertoire of training is acceptable also by rather severely impaired subjects and confirms the stabilizing effect of alternating vision/no vision trials already found in previous studies.</p>http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/7/1/13 |
| spellingShingle | Morasso Pietro Giannoni Psiche Squeri Valentina Casadio Maura Vergaro Elena Sanguineti Vittorio Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation |
| title | Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| title_full | Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| title_fullStr | Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| title_short | Self-adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| title_sort | self adaptive robot training of stroke survivors for continuous tracking movements |
| url | http://www.jneuroengrehab.com/content/7/1/13 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT morassopietro selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements AT giannonipsiche selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements AT squerivalentina selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements AT casadiomaura selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements AT vergaroelena selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements AT sanguinetivittorio selfadaptiverobottrainingofstrokesurvivorsforcontinuoustrackingmovements |