Scientists at the University of Chicago have shown that it is possible to implant brain-computer interfaces and let amputees control robotic arms, even years after their amputations. Similar research has previously focused on paralyzed people and whether they can benefit from technology that lets them move external devices by simply willing and thinking of wanted […]
Tag: Rehab
Body Monitoring Sensors from Shimmer Help Researchers Get Science Done
The Med in Ireland conference that we recently had a chance to visit, featured Shimmer, a successful body-sensing firm out of Dublin. The company also has offices in Cambridge, MA and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They build a variety of modular sensing devices for clinical studies, product development, and anything else that would require to record […]
Ford Trialing Exoskeleton to Help Factory Workers Avoid Injuries
Ford, the automaker, is trialing a new exoskeleton at two of its factories. The device is designed to help line assembly workers perform overhead tasks. The exoskeleton, called EksoVest, was developed in a partnership with Ekso Bionics, a company we visited and whose technology we tried on ourselves a couple years ago. While Ekso has devoted […]
Claris Reflex Brings Monitored Rehab Following Total Knee Replacement to The Home
Claris Healthcare, a company with offices in Vancouver, Canada and Ferndale, Washington, is releasing its novel Claris Reflex knee rehab monitoring system. The product consists of a sensor attached to the leg, above and below the knee, that constantly measures the flexion and extension of a knee that underwent a surgical procedure, and a software […]
Medtronic’s Compact Intellis Implantable Neurostimulation System Cleared in Europe
Medtronic won European regulatory approval for its Intellis system, which can be used for either spinal cord or peripheral nerve neurostimulation to help relieve chronic pain. This is currently the smallest implantable spinal cord stimulator on the market, which was released in the U.S. only a couple of months ago. The Intellis implant delivers both […]
Scientists See Brain Rewiring Itself to Adjust to Advanced Prostheses
Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne (EPFL) working with investigators in other institutions, managed to see, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), how the brain reorganizes itself after a person is treated with targeted motor and sensory reinnervation (TMSR). TMSR is a method of redirecting existing nerves on or near the amputee’s stump […]
Electrically Stimulating a Specific Brain Region using Ultrafine Wires Enhances Memory
Neuroscientists at UCLA have found that electrically stimulating a specific area of the brain using ultrafine wires enhances memory in epilepsy patients. If the technique can enhance memory in other patients, it might help with conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Our memory naturally declines with age, and in conditions such as Alzheimer’s, people can suffer […]
Building Flexible Electronics from Scratch Using 3D Printers
Scientists from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute have created a way to print flexible electronic devices. The development may herald future ubiquity of flexible body-worn products that can monitor various health parameters, provide therapy, and guide users in exercise and rehabilitation routines. The new technique is called Hybrid 3-D […]
Flexible Skin for Prosthetics Can Sense Shear Force
Researchers at the University of Washington and University of California, Los Angeles have developed a flexible “skin” that can be applied to a prosthetic limb. The skin can sense vibrations and can also measure shear force, such as the feeling when your finger slides along a table or when an object slips out of your […]
Sensoria Health Powered by Genesis Rehab Services, a Partnership to Develop Smart Aging Solutions (Interview)
Another exciting announcement from Health 2.0 is a partnership between Sensoria and Genesis Rehab Services (GRS) to develop smart aging solutions under the name, “Sensoria Health powered by Genesis Rehab Services.” Sensoria is already known as a leading developer of smart footwear and clothing products based on the Sensoria Core microelectronics and cloud system. Sensoria’s […]
Ultrasound System Maps Tongue Movement to Help with Speech Therapy
A team of French researchers has developed a specialized ultrasound technique to allow people to visualize the shape of the tongue during speech. This “visual biofeedback” system could help with speech therapy. At present, speech therapists will listen to someone’s pronunciation, and use diagrams to help explain how to position the tongue in the mouth […]
Highly Stretchable and Flexible Fiber Optic Measures Tiny Changes in Body Movements
The motion of our hands, fingers, feet, and other parts of our bodies is pretty complicated. Our bodies are curvy and their shape varies significantly from one person to the next, so accurately measuring the mechano-dynamics of different body parts requires more than just attaching accelerometers to them. There are pretty accurate electronic strain sensors […]
Ultrasound Identifies Hand Gestures, May Lead to Hands Free Control of Surgical Systems
At the University of Bristol in the U.K., researchers have managed to use ultrasound to detect the hand gestures that a person is displaying. While there are many consumer applications of the technology, such as playing video games and controlling devices around the house, this new “physiologic”‘way may end up being used by surgeons to […]
Magnetic Eyelid Tracker to Help Diagnose Some Diseases
Believe it or not, the way we blink our eyelids can be influenced by neurologic conditions, autoimmune diseases, and other factors. In order to take advantage of this knowledge, though, one needs a device that can accurately measure the movement of the eyelids. At Technion-Israel Institute of Technology researchers have designed just such an apparatus, which […]
World’s Densest Neural Probe to Power Brain-Computer Interfaces, Implants
Imec, a nanotechnology and digital technology research institution in Belgium, has developed the world’s densest neural probe. The ability to build ever more complex and capable brain-computer interfaces and neural implants requires being able to interface with as many neurons as possible. The new neural probe is so densely packed with electrodes that individual neurons […]
Nintendo Wii Now Used to Improve Lives of Parkinson’s Patients
Researchers from Purdue University, Indiana University, and the University of Calgary have developed and are testing a set of video games to help improve the everyday lives of people with Parkinson’s disease. The team relied on a Nintendo Wii video game platform coupled with the Wii Balance Board to run games in which a player moves […]
Exoskeleton Developed to Improve Walking of Kids with Cerebral Palsy
Most exoskeleton research has focused on helping paralyzed people to walk upright and for soldiers and workers to easily carry heavy loads. At the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center Rehabilitation Medicine Department researchers built an exoskeleton to improve the walking gait of children with cerebral palsy. Many children with cerebral palsy exhibit what’s known as […]
3D-Printed Robotic Arm for Sign Language Translation
A team of engineers at the University of Antwerp in The Netherlands has developed a 3D-printed robotic arm that can act as a sign language translator for deaf people. Sign language interpreters are often in short supply, and so this research team set out to develop a low cost automated system that can translate text […]
Prototype ARKE Exoskeleton Features Alexa Voice Controls
Bionik Laboratories, a company based in Toronto, Canada, is developing a lower body exoskeleton to get wheelchair bound people to start walking again. Currently in its second generation prototype, the ARKE exoskeleton is designed to be light, powerful, efficient, and perhaps most importantly, aiming to achieve a comfortable and natural walking gait. The company just announced […]
PhysioSensing Smart Pressure Pad to Improve Rehab: Interview with Sensing Future’s Pedro De Jesus Mendes
Sensing Future Technologies, a startup company based in Coimbra, Portugal, has developed a system called PhysioSensing that relies on a dense electronic pressure pad to assess a variety of characteristics about a person’s physical state, including balance, limits of stability, and related parameters. It can also be used, in a combination with gaming software, to help […]