Integrated Wearable Haptics for Stroke Therapy

This is a joint project between Nanyang Technological University,  Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary), National Institute for Medical Rehabilitation (Hungary) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Singapore). The goal of the project is to develop a wearable haptic device that could be used for post-stroke therapy.

For our group at NTU, we built an IMU-based upper body motion measurement system. The system was used to measure activities of daily living (ADL) of post-stroke patients. The system have been tested with both healthy and post-stroke patients.

The data from the ADL measurements was used to help design the controller for the robotic system built by our project partners in Hungary. The robot is shown in the photo above.

We combined the IMU-based sensors with haptic feedback using vibrotactile motors to create a motion replication system. We used the system to teach users different postures, using a master-slave configuration. The user (slave) copies the posture of another person (master) by "listening" to the vibration patterns given by the system as a guide. The posture of the slave and the master was measured using IMU.

Using the same sensor-feedback set, we also tested different combinations of feedback (haptic only, haptic + vision, vision only). Our results show that vision is mostly used to guide macro motions quickly while the haptic feedback is used for fine-tuning of the posture (micro motion). Using haptic feedback also help users in remembering postures and motions.

Another output of this project is an adaptive Continuous Passive Motion Machine (CPMM). Often, CPMMs are used to warm up or cool down patients prior to their therapy; the machines tend to be boring and single-use. We built an adaptive CPMM by incorporating  an interactive interface that helped turn exercises into games. The CPMM itself could also be converted into upper and lower limb exercise machines. It plane of rotation could also be modified, giving users a variety of motions possible. The system was tested with post-stroke patients at the Tan Tock Seng hospital.


Project Website:  <click here>


Related Publications:

A CausoT Le Dung, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Visual Cue and Vibrotactile in Series Configuration: Multimodal Feedback Design for Arm Posture Correction,” J. Med. Imaging Health Inf., 2(4), pp. 430-437, Dec 2012

ZQ Ding, ZQ Luo, A Causo, IM Chen, KX Yue, SH Yeo, KV Ling, “Inertia Sensor-based Guidance System for Upperlimb Posture Correction,” Journal of Medical Engineering and Physics, vol 35, no 2,  pp. 269-276,  Oct 2011, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medengphy.2011.09.002 [download here]

IM Chen, WT Yang, A Causo, SH Yeo, “Human Interface of Mobile Robot for Posture”, In: Designs and Prototypes of Mobile Robots. Emin Faruk Kececi and Marco Ceccarelli (Eds.), ASME Press, May 2015, pp. 135-164

A Causo, IM Chen, SH Yeo, "Measurement of Arm and Hand Motion in Performing Activities of Daily Living (ADL) of Healthy and Post-Stroke Subjects -- Preliminary Results", in Proc of the 2nd Int Conf on Intelligent Technologies and Engineering Systems (ICITES 2013), Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 2014, vol 293, no XXII, pp 1155-1162

B Magyar, G Stepan, M Jurak, L Gelanyi, G Fazekas, A Causo, IM Chen, "Application of Dynamic Time Warping in the Analysis of Human Functional Movements", in Proc of 4th Int Conf on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom 2013), Budapest, Hungary, 2-5 December 2013

Q Yuan, IM Chen, A Causo, "Human Velocity and Localization using 3 IMU Sensors", in Proc of the 6th IEEE Int Conf on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics (CIS-RAM 2013), Manila, Philippines, 12-15 November 2013, pp. 25-30

Q Yuan, IM Chen, A Causo, "Full-Body Motion and Velocity Tracking Based on Contacts and Body Kinematics: A Kendo Demonstration", in Proc of the 3rd IFToMM Int Symp on Robotics and Mechatronics (ISRM 2013), Singapore, 2-4 October 2013 



A Causo, SH Yeo, IM Chen, "Measuring Activities of Daily Living of Stroke Patients using Integrated Upper Limb Measurement System and ADL Measurement Table", in Proc of the 7th Int Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (i-CREATe 2013), 29-31 Aug 2013, Gyeonggi, Korea

WT Yang, KY Tee, IM Chen, A Causo, SH Yeo, “Portable Posture Guiding System With Visual and Verbal Feedback for Upper Extremity,” In: Romansy 19–Robot Design, Dynamics and Control (CISM International Centre for Mechanical Sciences Series), V Padois, P Bidaud, and  O Khatib, Eds. Springer-Vienna, 2013,  vol 544, pp 127-134

A Causo, M Soon, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Rood’s Sensorimotor Approach-based Design of a Vibrotactile Feedback System for Upper Extremity Stroke Rehabilitation,” Proc of The 2nd IFToMM ASIAN Conf on Mechanism and Machine Science (ASIAN-MMS2012), 7-10 Nov 2012, Tokyo

A Causo, L Liu, G Krishnasamy, SH Yeo and IM Chen, “Integration of Wireless Wearable Sensors and Mobile Computing with Cloud-based Service for Patient Rehabilitation Monitoring,” Proc of the Int Conf on Intelligent Unmanned Systems 2012 (ICIUS 2012), Singapore, 22-24 Oct 2012

A Causo, T Le Dung, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Vibrotactile Motors on Stationary Arm as Directional Feedback to Correct Arm Posture,” Proc of the 2012 IEEE/ASME Int Conf on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2012), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 11-14 July 2012

A Causo, T Le Dung, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Directional vs Non-directional Modes of Vibrotactile Feedback for Arm Posture Replication,” Proc of the IEEE Int Conf on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob 2012), Rome, Italy, 24-27 June 2012

A Causo, WS Ang, J Lin, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Intelligent Assist for Continuous Passive Motion Machine in Upper Arm Rehabilitation,” Proc of the Symposium on Emerging Technologies on Biomedical and Healthcare Application  (SETBHA 2012), Taoyuan, Taiwan, 10 April 2012

A Causo, T Le Dung, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Visual Cue and Vibrotactile for Multimodal Feedback in Arm Posture Correction,” Proc of the Symposium on Emerging Technologies on Biomedical and Healthcare Application  (SETBHA 2012), Taoyuan, Taiwan, 10 April 2012

G László, F Gábor, P Orsolya, T András, J Mihály, S Balázs, C Gergő, IM Chen, SH Yeo, A Causo, “Instrumented Assessment of Post-stroke Reach and Grasp Function in Selected Daily Living Tasks,” 1st Singapore Rehabilitation Conference, Singapore, 10-11 Feb 2012

A Causo, ZQ Ding, K Yue, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Vibrotactile feedback and visual cues for arm posture replication,” in Proc of the 5th IEEE Int Conf on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics (CIS-RAM 2011), Qingdao, China, 19-21 Sep 2011

A Causo, ZQ Ding, SH Yeo, IM Chen, “Strategies in Vibrotactile Feedback for Improved Upper Arm Posture Mapping and Replication Using Inertia Sensors, “ Proc  of the 2011 IEEE/ASME Int Conf on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM 2011), pp. 683-688, Budapest, Hungary, 3-7 July 2011