robot -assisted

Contactin-4 (CNTN4) is a complex cell adhesion molecule (CAM) localized at neuronal membranes, playing a key role in maintaining the mechanical integrity and signaling properties of the synapse. CNTN4 consists of six immunoglobulin C2 type (IgC2) domains and four fibronectin type III (FnIII) domains that are shared with many other CAMs. Mutations in CNTN4 gene have been linked to various psychiatric disorders. Toward elucidating the response of this modular protein to mechanical stress, we studied its force-induced unfolding using single molecule atomic force microscopy (smAFM) and steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations...

During recent decades, strain gauge-based joint torque sensors have been commonly used to provide high-fidelity torque measurements in robotics. Although measurement of joint torque/force is often required in engineering research and development, the gluing and wiring of strain gauges used as torque sensors pose difficulties during integration within the restricted space available in small joints. The problem is compounded by the need for a scalable geometric design to measure joint torque. In this communication, we describe a novel design of a strain gauge-based mono-axial torque sensor referred to as square-cut torque sensor (SCTS), the significant features of which are high degree of linearity, symmetry, and high scalability in terms of both size and measuring range...

Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary field that aims to engineer biological systems for useful purposes. Organism engineering often requires the optimization of individual genes and/or entire biological pathways (consisting of multiple genes). Advances in DNA sequencing and synthesis have recently begun to enable the possibility of evaluating thousands of gene variants and hundreds of thousands of gene combinations. However, such large-scale optimization experiments remain cost-prohibitive to researchers following traditional molecular biology practices, which are frequently labor-intensive and suffer from poor reproducibility...

BACKGROUND: An increasing body of literature is supporting the safety of minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy compared to open pancreaticoduodenectomy, but there are limited comparative studies between laparoscopic and robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of postoperative 30-day overall complications between laparoscopic and robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy. METHODS: Patients who underwent laparoscopic and robotic pancreaticoduodenectomy were abstracted from the 2014-2015 pancreas-targeted American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program...

Designing hardware for miniaturized robotics which mimics the capabilities of flying insects is of interest, because they share similar constraints (i.e. small size, low weight, and low energy consumption). Research in this area aims to enable robots with similarly efficient flight and cognitive abilities. Visual processing is important to flying insects' impressive flight capabilities, but currently, embodiment of insect-like visual systems is limited by the hardware systems available. Suitable hardware is either prohibitively expensive, difficult to reproduce, cannot accurately simulate insect vision characteristics, and/or is too heavy for small robotic platforms...

BACKGROUND: As irradiated brain volume at 12 Gy (V12) is a predictor for radionecrosis, the purpose of the study was to develop a model for Cyberknife (CK) plans that is able to predict the lowest achievable V12 at a given tumor size and prescription dose (PD), and to suggest a new quality index regarding V12 for optimizing the treatment planning of brain metastases. METHOD: In our model V12 was approximated as a spherical shell around the tumor volume. The radial distance between tumor surface and the 12 Gy isodose line was calculated using an approximation of the mean dose gradient in that area...

Robots have been employed in cardiovascular therapy as surgical tools and for automation of hospital systems. Soft robots are a new kind of robot made of soft deformable materials. They are uniquely suited for biomedical applications because they are inherently less likely to injure body tissues and more likely to adapt to biological environments. Awareness of the soft robotic systems under development will help promote clinician involvement in their successful translation for therapeutic use. Areas Covered: The soft robotic systems, across the size scale from nano to macro, that have shown the most promise for clinical application in cardiovascular therapy because they represent the most mature technology and also they offer solutions where a clear therapeutic need still exists...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether previous training in surgery influences performance on da Vinci Skills Simulator and da Vinci robot. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this prospective study, thirty-seven participants (11 medical students, 17 residents, and 9 attending surgeons) without previous experience in laparoscopy and robotic surgery performed 26 exercises at da Vinci Skills Simulator. Thirty-five then executed a suture using a da Vinci robot. RESULTS: The overall scores on the exercises at the da Vinci Skills Simulator show a similar performance among the groups with no statistically significant pair-wise differences (p < ...

In cancer treatment with radiation, accurate patient setup is critical for proper dose delivery. Improper arrangement can lead to disease recurrence, permanent organ damage, or lack of disease control. While current immobilization equipment often helps for patient positioning, manual adjustment is required, involving iterative, time-consuming steps. Here, we present an electromechanical robotic system for improving patient setup in radiotherapy, specifically targeting head and neck cancer. This positioning system offers six degrees of freedom for a variety of applications in radiation oncology...

In this paper, a differential neural network (DNN) implemented as a robust observer estimates the dynamics of perturbed uncertain nonlinear systems affected by exogenous unknown inputs. In the first stage, the identification error converges into a neighborhood around the origin. Then, the second-order sliding mode supertwisting algorithm implemented as a robust exact differentiator reconstructed the unknown inputs. The approach proposed in this paper can be applied in the case of full access to the state vector (identification problem) and in the case of partial access to the state vector (estimation problem)...

Gait rehabilitation is often focused on the legs, and overlooks the role of the upper limbs. However, a variety of studies have demonstrated the importance of proper arm swing both during healthy walking and during rehabilitation. In this paper, we describe a method for generating proper arm-swing trajectories in real-time using only measurements of the angular velocity of a person's thighs, to be used during gait rehabilitation with self-selected walking speed. A datadriven linear time-invariant transfer function is developed, using frequency-response methods, which captures the frequencydependent magnitude and phase relationship between the thighs' angular velocities and the arm angles (measured at the shoulder, in the sagittal plane), using a data set of 30 healthy adult subjects...

PURPOSE: To examine whether children with or without cerebral palsy (CP) would follow a humanoid robot's (i.e., Darwin) feedback to move their arm faster when playing virtual reality (VR) games. METHODS: Seven children with mild CP and 10 able-bodied children participated. Real-time reaching was evaluated by playing the Super Pop VR(TM) system, including 2-game baseline, 3-game acquisition, and another 2-game extinction. During acquisition, Darwin provided verbal feedback to direct the child to reach a kinematically defined target goal (i...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Hybrid rehabilitation robotics combine neuro-prosthetic devices (close-loop functional electrical stimulation systems) and traditional robotic structures and actuators to explore better therapies and promote a more efficient motor function recovery or compensation. Although hybrid robotics and ankle neuroprostheses (NPs) have been widely developed over the last years, there are just few studies on the use of NPs to electrically control both ankle flexion and extension to promote ankle recovery and improved gait patterns in paretic limbs...

Wearable robots can potentially offer their users enhanced stability and strength. These augmentations are ideally designed to actuate harmoniously with the user's movements and provide extra force as needed. The creation of such robots, however, is particularly challenging due to the underlying complexity of the human body. In this paper, we present a compliant, robotic exosuit for upper extremities called CRUX. This exosuit, inspired by tensegrity models of the human arm, features a lightweight (1.3 kg), flexible multi-joint design for portable augmentation...

In this paper, a 5 DOF trans-humeral robotic prosthesis: MoBio is proposed. MoBio includes 2 DOF at wrist which is rare in other trans-humeral prostheses. Through anthropometric features MoBio prosthetic arm can achieve elbow flexion/extension, forearm supination/pronation, wrist radial/ulnar deviation, wrist flexion/extension and compound motion of thumb and index finger. An EMG based control method which uses EMG signals of the biceps brachii and triceps brachii, is used with a motion switching mechanism to control the prosthesis...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder that slowly brings on the dopaminergic neurons death. The depletion of the dopaminergic signal causes the onset of motor symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity. Usually, neurologists regularly monitor motor symptoms and motor fluctuations using the MDS-UPDRS part III clinical scale. Nevertheless, to have a more objective and quantitative evaluation, it is possible to assess the cardinal motor symptoms of PD using wearable sensors and portable robotic devices...

This paper presents the design and characterization of a power-asymmetric actuator for a transtibial prosthesis. The device is designed to provide the combination of: 1) joint locking, 2) high power dissipation, and 3) low power generation. This actuator functionality allows for a prosthesis to be designed with minimal mass and power consumption relative to a fully-powered robotic prosthesis while maintaining much of the functionality necessary for activities of daily living. The actuator achieves these design characteristics while maintaining a small form factor by leveraging a combination of electromechanical and hydraulic components...

This paper aimed to verify the effectiveness of the wearable robotic system "curara" for patients with spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD) by evaluating walking smoothness. The curara system supports the wearer's gait using a synchronization control method that uses a neural oscillator based on a central pattern generator network. The system reflects the motional intention by adjusting the synchronization gains. This modifies the degree of interactive coordinated motion between the curara and the wearer. As a feasibility study, we evaluated the waking smoothness of 10 patients with SCD using three gain condition settings...