ApplySci – Deep Tech Health + Neurotech

Category: Assistive Technologies

  • “Bionic” arm exoskeleton concept for rehabilitation and strength augmentation

    http://titanarm.com/about Titan Arm is an untethered, powered, upper body exoskeleton concept for use in rehabilitation and therapeutic applications, which can also augment strength.  It is under development and not yet ready to be brought to market, but is being designed by students at The University of Pennsylvania.  It straps directly to a user’s right arm to help…

  • NIH funds robots for the vision impaired, stroke patients, doctors performing catheter ablation

    http://www.nih.gov/news/health/oct2013/nibib-23.htm Three projects have been awarded funding by the National Institutes of Health.  All involve robots that cooperate with people and adapt to changing environments to improve human capabilities and enhance medical procedures. A co-robotic navigation device for the blind: Cang Ye at University of Arkansas is incorporating 3D imaging sensor technology into the white cane. This…

  • Brain stimulation and touch sensitivity in prosthetic limbs

    http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/10/08/1221113110.abstract?sid=35f0c072-fa67-4ec8-9e83-17a292a83982 University of Chicago scientists have completed a study on stimulating a prosthetic limb wearer’s brain with electrical signals to replicate feelings of touch. The researchers used monkeys with electrodes connected to touch-associated areas of the brain. They completed touch exercises with their normal hand and an unstimulated brain. The same exercises were conducted with a prosthetic…

  • Smartphones and tablets assist the visually impaired

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/disruptions-guided-by-touch-screens-blind-turn-to-smartphones-for-sight/?partner=socialflow&smid=tw-nytimesbusiness&_r=0 The New York Times Bits blog reports that “advocates for the blind say that smartphones and tablets could be the biggest assistive aid to come along since Braille was invented in the 1820s.”  Writer Nick Bilton explores some of the many ways–from voice commands to gesture readers–that mobile devices are helping the visually impaired.

  • Mind controlled bionic leg

    http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1300126 A robotic control system for a prosthetic leg allowed a 31-year-old man to walk and climb stairs with a nearly normal gait. The system links nerves in the thigh — including some for missing muscles in the lower limb — to a processor that decodes the signals and guides the motion of the prosthesis,…

  • Data glasses controlled by eye movement — an alternative to brain machine interface

    http://www.domain-b.com/technology/20130912_movements.html Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed bidirectional OLED microdisplay eye-controlled data glasses.  Users can view the real world while browsing a large amount of virtual information and turn pages with their eyes. Integrated camera sensors register the direction of the wearer’s eye movements and an image processing program calculates the exact position of…

  • Personalized robot companion for seniors

    http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=OFFR_TM_EN&ACTION=D&RCN=11525 A European consortium of research institutes, universities and technology companies has developed a highly customizable robot companion to help seniors to maintain their quality of life, stay healthy and avoid social exclusion. The robot, a mobile wheeled semi-humanoid figure equipped with cameras, sensors, audio, and a touch screen interface, can remind users to take their…

  • Tiny wearable computer uses audio feedback to assist the vision impaired

    http://www.orcam.com OrCam, led by Hebrew University Professor Amnon Shashua, one the most exciting computer vision entrepreneurs in Israel, has developed a device that uses audio feedback to relay visual information to visually impaired people.   The tiny wearable computer works with a 5-mega pixel camera attached to glasses.   A computer vision algorithm enables it…

  • “Artificial skin” senses touch, temperature, humidity

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130708124423.htm Professor Hossam Haick at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology has created a flexible sensor that could be integrated into electronic skin, enabling those with prosthetic limbs to feel changes in their environments.  The Technion invention simultaneously senses touch, humidity, and temperature. According to Professor Haick, it is at least 10 times more sensitive to touch…

  • Crowdfunded, 3D printed “Robohands” provide dexterity to children with out fingers

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/06/18/191279201/3-d-printer-brings-dexterity-to-children-with-no-fingers A Robohand is a customized, fitted set of mechanical fingers that open and close to grasp things based on the motion of the wrist.  When the wrist folds and contracts, the cables attaching the fingers to the base structure cause the fingers to curl.  Nearly all the parts of a Robohand are 3D printed…

  • Thought-controlled flying robot

    http://www.livescience.com/27849-mind-controlled-devices-brain-awareness-nsf.html University of Minnesota researchers led by Professor Bin He have been able to control a small helicopter using only their minds, pushing the potential of technology that could help paralyzed or motion-impaired people interact with the world around them. An EEG cap with 64 electrodes was put on head of the person controlling the helicopter.…

  • Nerve and muscle interfaces for prosthetic control

    http://www.darpa.mil/NewsEvents/Releases/2013/05/30.aspx DARPA continues to build technology with academic partners to enable amputees to control prosthetic limbs with their minds.  Examples follow: Researchers at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago demonstrated a type of peripheral interface called targeted muscle re-innervation (TMR). By rewiring nerves from amputated limbs, new interfaces allow for prosthetic control with existing muscles. Researchers…