Using a Robotic Neck Brace for Movement Training of the Head-Neck
Journal
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters
Journal Volume
4
Journal Issue
2
Pages
846-853
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Zhang H.; Chang B.-C.; Agrawal S.K.
Abstract
Coordinated head-neck movement is a challenge for patients with neurological disorders, such as cerebral palsy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neck collars are commonly used to stabilize the head-neck in these patients. These collars are mostly rigid and uncomfortable to wear for extended periods of time. We have developed a robotic neck brace to assist head-neck motion. In this letter, we focus on using the robotic neck brace for training of the head-neck motion using forces applied on the head. A force controller is implemented to deliver a moment to correct the head motion in an 'assist-as-needed' fashion. A human study was designed to assess the performance of the robotic neck brace with the force controller. Ten young healthy adults participated in the experiment. They were asked to perform a lateral bending motion in the coronal plane of the head-neck with and without the assistance of the brace. The motions were conducted under two conditions: i) with visual feedback, ii) with visual and force feedback. We found that the rotational movement errors were significantly reduced (p< 0.05) during training with the force field when compared to visual feedback alone. As expected, this change was not retained during post-training. We conclude that the force controller is able to provide the desirable force assistance to help coordinate the head motion. © 2016 IEEE.
Subjects
Controllers; Feedback; Force control; Human robot interaction; Robotics; Visual communication; Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Force controller; Lateral bending; Neurological disorders; Physical human-robot interactions; Rehabilitation robotics; Rotational movement; Wearable robots; Visual servoing
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Type
journal article