Review of Upper Limb Hybrid Exoskeletons

Stewart, Ashley M.; Pretty, Christopher G.; Adams, Mark; Chen, Xiaoqi

doi:10.1016/j.ifacol.2017.08.2266

Cited by 49 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…A study on the development of upper-limb hybrid exoskeletons in combination with the functional electrical stimulation (FES) was reported by Stewart et al [16], which mainly focused on post-stroke rehabilitation and patient monitoring. Islam et al [11] made a review to identify the technological gap between the commercially available robotic exoskeletons and research prototypes used for post-stroke rehabilitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Design of Upper Limb Exoskeletons

2020

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Exoskeleton robotics has ushered in a new era of modern neuromuscular rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology research. The technology promises to improve the upper-limb functionalities required for performing activities of daily living. The exoskeleton technology is evolving quickly but still needs interdisciplinary research to solve technical challenges, e.g., kinematic compatibility and development of effective human–robot interaction. In this paper, the recent development in upper-limb exoskeletons is reviewed. The key challenges involved in the development of assistive exoskeletons are highlighted by comparing available solutions. This paper provides a general classification, comparisons, and overview of the mechatronic designs of upper-limb exoskeletons. In addition, a brief overview of the control modalities for upper-limb exoskeletons is also presented in this paper. A discussion on the future directions of research is included.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review on Design of Upper Limb Exoskeletons

2020

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“…A key novel contribution of the current work is to test whether the hybrid exoskeleton is able to reduce the level of FES-induced fatigue as this is something which has not been tested by the hybrid exoskeletons described in [6]. As has been described already this can be tested by comparing the variations in the final value of the overall gain (k).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the potential advantages of hybrid exoskeletons, so far only limited studies have been done on their effectiveness. A recent review was conducted into upper-extremity hybrid exoskeletons [6] which highlighted the advantages hybrid exoskeletons (exoskeletons which combine FES with an actuator) have with regards to improving the precision of FES induced movements. However, little attention has been given towards reduction and management of FES-induced fatigue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A portable assist-as-need upper-extremity hybrid exoskeleton for FES-induced muscle fatigue reduction in stroke rehabilitation

2019

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Background: Hybrid exoskeletons are a recent development which combine Functional Electrical Stimulation with actuators to improve both the mental and physical rehabilitation of stroke patients. Hybrid exoskeletons have been shown capable of reducing the weight of the actuator and improving movement precision compared to Functional Electrical Stimulation alone. However little attention has been given towards the ability of hybrid exoskeletons to reduce and manage Functional Electrical Stimulation induced fatigue or towards adapting to user ability. This work details the construction and testing of a novel assist-as-need upper-extremity hybrid exoskeleton which uses modelbased Functional Electrical Stimulation control to delay Functional Electrical Stimulation induced muscle fatigue. The hybrid control is compared with Functional Electrical Stimulation only control on a healthy subject. Results: The hybrid system produced 24°less average angle error and 13.2°less Root Mean Square Error, than Functional Electrical Stimulation on its own and showed a reduction in Functional Electrical Stimulation induced fatigue. Conclusion: As far as the authors are aware, this is the study which provides evidence of the advantages of hybrid exoskeletons compared to use of Functional Electrical Stimulation on its own with regards to the delay of Functional Electrical Stimulation induced muscle fatigue.

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“…Some investigation has been done into electrode arrays which may prove promising [33,34]. The use of hybrid exoskeletons, which are the focus of this work have already been shown capable of improving FES precision [9] thus the main goal with regards to FES for this work is towards reducing the FES-induced fatigue. It is also in this area that the most gaps remain [35].…”

Section: Theory Of Fes Induced Muscle Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent review was conducted into upper-limb hybrid exoskeletons [9] which highlighted the advantages hybrid exoskeletons (exoskeletons which combine FES with an actuator) have with regards to improving the precision of FES induced movements. However, little attention has been given towards optimising the control between the actuator and the FES with regards to reduction and management of FES-induced fatigue or with regards to adapting to user ability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation into the effect of electrode type and stimulation parameters on FES-induced dynamic movement in the presence of muscle fatigue for a voltage-controlled stimulator

Stewart

Pretty

Chen

2019

IFAC Journal of Systems and Control

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Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is very useful in Stroke Rehabilitation for rebuilding muscle strength, both in a clinical setting and for home-based rehabilitation, however it is limited in its usage due to the resulting FES-induced muscle fatigue, as well as a large variation in muscle response. This paper compares the effectiveness of e-textile electrodes with conventional hydrogel electrodes at a range of stimulation parameters. The e-textiles produced a stronger response at a lower voltage than the hydrogels (3-4 V difference for a stimulation intensity voltage range of 8-22 V) and offer more consistency across different FES sessions. A simple model was then developed which relates the variation of the stimulation parameters (voltage, pulse-width, and frequency) to a change in angle for the elbow joint (Bicep muscle) using the e-textile electrodes.Step responses for various combinations of FES parameters were measured for 8 different healthy subjects for a total of fifty 10 minute long tests. Overall the model produced good predictions of the arm response and it was found that the model was more accurate and consistent for combinational parameter steps than for individual parameter steps. The R² value for the measured step change compared with the predicted step change for FES-induced contractions for all step types and subjects combined was 0.76 for one of the methods using the model.

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Review of Upper Limb Hybrid Exoskeletons

Cited by 49 publications

References 35 publications

A Review on Design of Upper Limb Exoskeletons

A Review on Design of Upper Limb Exoskeletons

A portable assist-as-need upper-extremity hybrid exoskeleton for FES-induced muscle fatigue reduction in stroke rehabilitation

An investigation into the effect of electrode type and stimulation parameters on FES-induced dynamic movement in the presence of muscle fatigue for a voltage-controlled stimulator

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