Webinar 2 in the Seminar on Robotics for rehabilitation and elderly care seminar series

By Prof Ashish D. Deshpande, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin, USA on 29 January 2021

Abstract: Stroke is a leading cause of disability in the US and around the world, and the current rehabilitation treatments are costly, labor-intensive and insufficient, leaving millions of stroke survivors with life altering disabilities. Deshpande’s group has built a novel robot, called Harmony Exoskeleton, for upper-body rehabilitation. Fundamental Ashish D. Deshpande is passionate about helping stroke patients recover from their disabilities and he believes robots could serve as important tools in the recovery process. He is a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, where he directs the ReNeu Robotics Lab. His work focuses on the study of human system and design of robotic systems toward the goals accelerating recovery after a neurological injury (e.g. stroke and spinal cord injury), improving the quality of lives of those living disabilities (e.g. amputation) and enhancing lives and productivity of workers, soldiers and astronauts. Specifically, his group has designed two novel exoskeletons for delivering engaging and subject-specific training for neuro-recovery of upper-body movements after stroke and spinal cord injury. Dr Deshpande is a co-founder of Harmonic Bionics whose mission is to improve rehabilitation outcomes for stroke patients.

The recording is available below:

Webinar 1 in the Seminar on Robotics for rehabilitation and elderly care seminar series

Prof Sunil Agrawal, Professor, Columbia University, USA on 11 January 2021

Abstract: Neural disorders and old age limit the ability of humans to perform activities of daily living. Robotics can be used to probe the human neuromuscular system and create new pathways to characterize, relearn, or restore functional movements. Dr Agrawal’s group at Columbia University Robotics and Rehabilitation (ROAR) Laboratory has designed innovative technologies and robots for this purpose. These technologies have been tested on subjects in a variety of studies to understand the human cognitive and Speaker Bio neuro-muscular response. Human experiments have targeted patients with stroke, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, Vestibular disorders, elderly subjects and others. The talk will provide an overview of some of these technologies and scientific studies performed with them.

Recording is available below:

With the increase in life expectancy and the prevalence of chronic diseases, the disability rate is on rise. The health care system is required to be flexible enough to meet the growing challenges in terms of the increasing number of patients, more chronic diseases, rising cost and skill shortages. To meet this challenge, the health care system is evolving by drawing advantages from advances in information technology, engineering and bioinformatics to provide an agile health system in diagnosis, treatment and management.

This webinar series brought experts from medical, social science, and engineering domains to contemplate the benefits and limitations of such intervention in the assessment and monitoring of disabled and elderly health. The focus of this online series is to update with the current understanding and state of the art research work on Robotics for Rehabilitation and Elderly Care. The online series will cover a variety of topics by eminent researchers around the globe on Biomechanics, dynamics of human-robot cooperation, human movement control, movement disorders, rehabilitation strategies, robotic exoskeletons, dynamics, control and optimization.

Webinar 1: Robotics to Characterize and Restore Human Movements

By Prof Sunil Agrawal, Professor, Columbia University, USA on 11 January 2021

Webinar 2: Harmony Exoskeleton: A Journey from Robotics Lab to Stroke Patients

By Prof Ashish D. Deshpande, Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin, USA on 29 January 2021

Webinar 3: Robotics for assessment and training of dynamic balancing during walking

By Prof Zlatko Matjači, Professor of Biomechanics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Head of R and D Unit, University Rehabilitation Institute, Republic of Slovenia on 15 February 2021

Webinar 4: Design and control of hand and leg exoskeletons for neuro-rehabilitation of stroke patients

By Prof Ashish Dutta, Jag Mohan Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Dean of Digital Infrastructure and Automation, IIT Kanpur on 3 March 2021

Webinar 5: Wearable Robotics for sustainable welfare

By Prof Nicola Vitiello, Associate Professor, The BioRobotics Institute (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, SSSA, Pisa, Italy) on 24 March 2021