A Structurally Enhanced Neck Exoskeleton to Assist with Head-Neck Motion

Demaree, David; Zhang, Haohan

doi:10.1109/ismr57123.2023.10130255

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This was possible because the head possesses a much larger rotational range of motion than translational during most daily movements. While this new approach has demonstrated that it can enable head-neck rotations in different users and applications [16][17][18][19][20][21] , it can be restrictive to natural head-neck movements of different users due to the constraints imposed by the underlying linkage kinematics that couples the rotations and translations of the head.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cable-Driven Robotic Platform to Modulate and Study Head-Neck Movements

Bales,

Zhang

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper introduces a novel cable-driven robotic platform to assist with and train head-neck movements. Poor postural control of the head-neck can be a debilitating symptom of neurological disorders like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Current treatments using static neck collars are inadequate and there is a need to develop new devices to empower movements and facilitate physical rehabilitation of the head-neck. Existing exoskeletons using rigid linkages are limited by their restrictive structure. By contrast, the cable-driven robot presented in this paper does not constrain motion and allows for wide-range, six degrees-of-freedom control of the head-neck. We present the mechatronic design and control implementations of this robot, as well as a user study to demonstrate its feasibility to assist with head-neck motion and apply a resistive moment on the head using a target reaching task. Our results show that neck muscle activation increased by 19% when moving the head against a resistive force field and decreased by 28-43% when assisted by the robot in two different assistive control modes. Overall, these results provide a scientific justification for future design and control optimizations to enable movement and studies to identify personalized rehabilitation for motor training.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cable-Driven Robotic Platform to Modulate and Study Head-Neck Movements

Bales,

Zhang

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

A six degrees-of-freedom cable-driven robotic platform for head–neck movement

Bales,

Zhang

2024

Sci Rep

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper introduces a novel cable-driven robotic platform that enables six degrees-of-freedom (DoF) natural head–neck movements. Poor postural control of the head–neck can be a debilitating symptom of neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cerebral palsy. Current treatments using static neck collars are inadequate, and there is a need to develop new devices to empower movements and facilitate physical rehabilitation of the head–neck. State-of-the-art neck exoskeletons using lower DoF mechanisms with rigid linkages are limited by their hard motion constraints imposed on head–neck movements. By contrast, the cable-driven robot presented in this paper does not constrain motion and enables wide-range, 6-DoF control of the head–neck. We present the mechatronic design, validation, and control implementations of this robot, as well as a human experiment to demonstrate a potential use case of this versatile robot for rehabilitation. Participants were engaged in a target reaching task while the robot applied both assistive and resistive moments on the head during the task. Our results show that neck muscle activation increased by 19% when moving the head against resistance and decreased by 28–43% when assisted by the robot. Overall, these results provide a scientific justification for further research in enabling movement and identifying personalized rehabilitation for motor training. Beyond rehabilitation, other applications such as applying force perturbations on the head to study sensory integration and applying traction to achieve pain relief may benefit from the innovation of this robotic platform which is capable of applying controlled 6-DoF forces/moments on the head.

show abstract

Kinematic Benefits of a Cable-Driven Exosuit for Head-Neck Mobility

Bales,

Zhang

2024

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Structurally Enhanced Neck Exoskeleton to Assist with Head-Neck Motion

Cited by 4 publications

References 17 publications

A Cable-Driven Robotic Platform to Modulate and Study Head-Neck Movements

A Cable-Driven Robotic Platform to Modulate and Study Head-Neck Movements

A six degrees-of-freedom cable-driven robotic platform for head–neck movement

Kinematic Benefits of a Cable-Driven Exosuit for Head-Neck Mobility

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About