Soft Wearable Robotics Technologies for Body Motion Sensing

Park, Y.-L.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-803137-7.00009-4

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…In addition, the composition of the conductive elastomer material could be optimized for the MR application, which will equally involve trade-offs between conductivity and mechanical properties. 42 The elastomer coils described in this work were found to be mechanically robust. In terms of electrical properties, they showed two chief behaviors when stretched.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…This is to be expected because of strain‐related changes in the cross section and length of the conductor. In addition, conductive pathways between particles are impaired upon strain, 42 which also increases the resistance of the conductor. The second important behavior is settling of Q unloaded over the first several strain cycles, at values that depend on the maximum strain experienced.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This should be straightforward in terms of fabrication and handling but will require greater force for stretching. In addition, the composition of the conductive elastomer material could be optimized for the MR application, which will equally involve trade‐offs between conductivity and mechanical properties 42 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elastomer coils for wearable MR detection

Port

Luechinger

Brunner

et al. 2021

Magnetic Resonance in Med

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Funding information Nano-Tera.ch, project: WearableMRI Purpose: To explore the use of conductive elastomer for MR signal detection and the utility of this approach for wearable detector arrays. Methods: An elastomer filled with silver microparticles was used to form stretchable radiofrequency coils for MR detection. Their electrical performance in terms of the Q unloaded and Q ratio was assessed in the relaxed state and under repeated strain up to 40%. In a phantom imaging study, the signal-to-noise ratio yield of conductive elastomer coils was compared with that of a reference copper coil. Four elastomer coils were integrated with a stretchable textile substrate to form a wearable array for knee imaging. The array was employed for multiple-angle and kinematic knee imaging in vivo. Results: The elastomer coils proved highly stretchable and mechanically robust. Upon repeated stretching by 20%, a medium-sized coil element settled at Q unloaded of 42 in the relaxed state and 32 at full strain, reflecting sample-noise dominance. The signal-to-noise ratio of elastomer coils was found to be 8% to 16% lower than that achieved with a conventional copper coil. Multiple-angle and kinematic knee imaging with the wearable array yielded high-quality results indicating robustness of detection performance against stretching and warping of the array. Conclusion: Conductive elastomer is a viable material for MR detection. Coils made from this material reconcile high stretchability and adequate electrical performance with ease of manufacturing. Conductive elastomer also offers inherent restoring forces and is readily washable and sanitizable, making it an excellent basis of wearable detector front ends. K E Y W O R D S conductive elastomer, knee imaging, wearable array 1 | INTRODUCTION In the design of MRI receiver coils, one of the key goals is to maximize signal sensitivity. To this end, coils and coil arrays are traditionally made from excellent conductors, predominantly copper, which minimizes detection noise caused by coil losses. Along with superior conductivity, copper offers ease of manufacturing, favorable chemical properties, and mechanical strength. The latter is helpful in forming robust, rigid coil setups as commonly used for both clinical and research uses of MRI. However, rigidity is arguably ambivalent. Receiver setups should be applicable in a range of patients with anatomies of varying size and shape. Rigid coils will then inevitably be too large for some subjects, at the How to cite this article:

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elastomer coils for wearable MR detection

Port

Luechinger

Brunner

et al. 2021

Magnetic Resonance in Med

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“…In fact, robots based on soft materials (widely known as soft robots) are able to withstand large deformations, perform complex motions, conform to arbitrary geometries, and sustain impacts without damage, and thus they are particularly suited to those applications where a safe interaction with people, fragile objects, and the environment is needed [2]. Accordingly, there has been a boost of research activities dedicated to the design and fabrication of more and more advanced soft robots for several sectors; e.g., automotive [3], aerospace [4,5], wearable [6], medical [7][8][9][10][11], and renewable energy [12] sectors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two-Way and Multiple-Way Shape Memory Polymers for Soft Robotics: An Overview

2020

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Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are smart materials capable of changing their shapes in a predefined manner under a proper applied stimulus and have gained considerable interest in several application fields. Particularly, two-way and multiple-way SMPs offer unique opportunities to realize untethered soft robots with programmable morphology and/or properties, repeatable actuation, and advanced multi-functionalities. This review presents the recent progress of soft robots based on two-way and multiple-way thermo-responsive SMPs. All the building blocks important for the design of such robots, i.e., the base materials, manufacturing processes, working mechanisms, and modeling and simulation tools, are covered. Moreover, examples of real-world applications of soft robots and related actuators, challenges, and future directions are discussed.

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“…The sensor material is also an important issue. Owing to the intricate structure of the human body and its movement, rigid sensing devices are difficult to use [ 12 ]. Moreover, because of their hard material, subjects feel uncomfortable during gait analysis [ 13 ] with commercial devices such as an IMU or a goniometer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gait Analysis Accuracy Difference with Different Dimensions of Flexible Capacitance Sensors

Nam

Ahn

2021

Sensors

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Stroke causes neurological pathologies, including gait pathologies, which are diagnosed by gait analysis. However, existing gait analysis devices are difficult to use in situ or are disrupted by external conditions. To overcome these drawbacks, a flexible capacitance sensor was developed in this study. To date, a performance comparison of flexible sensors with different dimensions has not been carried out. The aim of this study was to provide optimized sensor dimension information for gait analysis. To accomplish this, sensors with seven different dimensions were fabricated. The dimensions of the sensors were based on the average body size and movement range of 20- to 59-year-old adults. The sensors were characterized by 100 oscillations. The minimum hysteresis error was 8%. After that, four subjects were equipped with the sensor and walked on a treadmill at a speed of 3.6 km/h. All walking processes were filmed at 50 fps and analyzed in Kinovea. The RMS error was calculated using the same frame rate of the video and the sampling rate of the signal from the sensor. The smallest RMS error between the sensor data and the ankle angle was 3.13° using the 49 × 8 mm sensor. In this study, we confirm the dimensions of the sensor with the highest gait analysis accuracy; therefore, the results can be used to make decisions regarding sensor dimensions.

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Soft Wearable Robotics Technologies for Body Motion Sensing

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Elastomer coils for wearable MR detection

Elastomer coils for wearable MR detection

Two-Way and Multiple-Way Shape Memory Polymers for Soft Robotics: An Overview

Gait Analysis Accuracy Difference with Different Dimensions of Flexible Capacitance Sensors

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