Search

Stroke survivors having limited finger coordination require an active hand orthosis to assist them with grasping tasks for daily activities. The orthosis should be portable for constant use; however, portability imposes constraints on the number, size, and weight of the actuators, which increase the difficulty of the design process. Therefore, a tradeoff exists between portability and the assistive force. In this study, a personalized spatial stiffness distribution design is presented for a portable and strengthful hand orthosis. The spatial stiffness distribution of the orthosis was optimized based on measurements of individual hand parameters to satisfy the functional requirements of achieving sufficient grip aperture in the pre-grasping phase and minimal assistive force in the grasping phase. Ten stroke survivors were recruited to evaluate the system. Sufficient grip aperture and high grip strength-to-weight ratio were achieved by the orthosis via a single motor. Moreover, the orthosis significantly restored the range of motion and improved the performance of daily activities. The proposed spatial stiffness distribution can suggest a design solution to make strengthful hand orthoses with reduced weight.

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-tam-10.1177_17588359221141761 for Plasma tumor mutation burden is associated with clinical benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with anti-programmed death-1 monotherapy by Jii Bum Lee, Hyung Soon Park, Su Jin Choi, Seong Gu Heo, Ho Jung An, Hye Ryun Kim, Min Hee Hong, Sun Min Lim, Kyle Chang, Katie Quinn, Justin Odegaard, Byoung Yong Shim and Byoung Chul Cho in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology

Supplemental material, sj-pptx-2-tam-10.1177_17588359221141761 for Plasma tumor mutation burden is associated with clinical benefit in patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with anti-programmed death-1 monotherapy by Jii Bum Lee, Hyung Soon Park, Su Jin Choi, Seong Gu Heo, Ho Jung An, Hye Ryun Kim, Min Hee Hong, Sun Min Lim, Kyle Chang, Katie Quinn, Justin Odegaard, Byoung Yong Shim and Byoung Chul Cho in Therapeutic Advances in Medical Oncology

본 연구는 우리나라 성인을 대상으로 행복을 결정짓는 중요한 선행요인을 파악하고 이를 통해 오프라인 유통매장의 고객경험 서비스 디자인을 위한 시사점을 제안하고자 하였다. 설문지를 통해 562명의 응답을 분석하였고 그 결과는 다음과 같다. 전 연령층을 대상으로 분석한 결과를 보면 행복도에 가장 큰 영향을 미치는 사전 변수는 자신의 신체적 건강에 대한 만족도였으며, 인간관계, 자신의 강점 활용 순으로 나타났다. 또한 기존 연구에서 거의 언급되지 않았던 새로움 추구(Novelty seeking)라는 변수도 행복을 결정 짓는데 매우 중요한 변수임을 밝혀내었고, 여가만족도 또한 행복에 유의한 영향을 미치는 유의한 선행요인으로 나타났다. 즉, 자신의 건강에 대해 만족하는 경우 행복감은 가장 많이 향상되며, 사회적으로 좋은 인간관계를 유지하고 자신의 강점을 잘 파악하며 매사에 새로움을 도전하며 여가를 잘 즐기는 것은 행복의 지름길인 것이다. 또한 청년층과 중장년층의 행복감에 영향을 미치는 사전요인을 비교해 본 결과, 연령의 차이에 따라 행복을 결정짓는 요인의 중요성은 다르게 나타났다. 최근 오프라인 유통매장에서는 소비자 방문율을 높이기 위해 다양한 프로그램을 디자인하고 있는데, 이 연구 결과를 활용하여 향후 행복증진을 위한 프로그램을 디자인한다면 보다 더 호응 높고 효과적인 프로그램이 될 것으로 기대된다.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Independent variable candidates from preliminary analysis using linear regression on each considered independent variable and each dependent variable. Table S2. Results of linear regression models with symmetry index of gait quality measures (dependent variables) and the number of muscle modules at unaffected and affected side (independent variables).

This work addresses the magnetic-based control of a helical robot and the mitigation of the magnetic forces on its dipole moment during radial steering using rotating permanent magnets. A magnetic system with two synchronized permanent magnets that rotate quasistatically is used to move the helical robot (length and diameter of 12.5 mm and 4 mm, respectively). We experimentally demonstrate that using two synchronized permanent magnets for radial steering of a helical robot achieves higher motion stability, as opposed to propulsion using single rotating dipole field. The two synchronized dipole fields decrease the lateral oscillation (average peak-to-peak amplitude) of the helical robot by 37%, compared to the radial steering using a single dipole field at angular velocity of 31 rad/s. We also show that driving the helical robot using two synchronized rotating magnets achieves average swimming speed of 2.1 mm/s, whereas the single rotating dipole field achieves average swimming speed of 0.4 mm/s at angular velocity of 31 rad/s for the rotating permanent magnets. The proposed configuration of the helical propulsion allows us to decrease the magnetic forces that could cause tissue damage or potential trauma for in vivo applications.

Low-Back Pain (LBP) affects a large portion of the working population. Preventive exoskeletons have been proposed to reduce the moments on the lower back, specifically around the lumbosacral (L5/S1) joint. High correlation has been shown, between reducing the moments around the L5/S1 joint and intervertebral compression forces, which in turn have been identified as a risk factor for developing LBP. However, most passive back support exoskeletons use rigid plates or stiff beams to support the spine that limit the range of motion of the wearer. A large range of motion and versatility are especially desirable for industrial applications. To overcome these limitations, a passive biomimetic exo-spine has been designed, modelled and an initial prototype tested. Its potential to allow for a large range of motion, whilst at the same time limiting the most extreme and potentially harmful postures has been shown.

This paper presents design of a novel modular lower-limb gait exoskeleton built within the FP7 BioMot project. Exoskeleton employs a variable stiffness actuator (VSA) in all 6 joints, a directional-flexibility structure and a novel physical human-robot interfacing, which allow it to deliver the required output while minimally constraining user’s gait by providing passive degrees of freedom. Due to the modularity, exoskeleton can be used as a full lower-limb orthosis, a single-joint orthosis in any of the three joints, and a two-joint orthosis in a combi- nation of any of the two joints. By employing a simple torque control strategy, exoskeleton can be used to deliver a user- specific assistance, both in gait rehabilitation and in assisting people suffering musculoskeletal impairments. The result of the presented BioMot efforts is a low footprint-exoskeleton with powerful compliant actuators, simple, yet effective torque controller and easily adjustable flexible structure.

The human ankle joint plays a crucial role during walking. At the push-off phase the ankle plantarflexors generate the highest torque among the lower limb joints during this activity. The potential of the ankle plantarflexors is affected by numerous pathologies and injuries, which cause a decrease in the ability of the subject to achieve a natural gait pattern. Active orthoses have shown to have potential in assisting these subjects. The design of such robots is very challenging due to the contrasting design requirements of wearability (light weight and compact) and high torques capacity. This paper presents the development of a high-torque ankle actuator to assist the ankle joint in both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion. The compliant actuator is a spindle-driven MACCEPA (Mechanically Adjustable Compliance and Controllable Equilibrium Position Actuator). The design of the actuator was made to keep its weight as low as possible, while being able to provide high torques. As a result of this novel design, the actuator weighs 1.18kg. Some static characterization tests were perfomed on the actuator and their results are shown in the paper.