SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes a bimanual robotic rehabilitation system, named BiArm", for stroke survivors who experience hemiparesis - weakness on one side of the body. The system is comprised of two special three-dimensional robotic arms designed to interact through forces with people over large reachable workspaces, reacting with feather-touch forces in addition to gravity- offsetting forces. The terminus of each of the robotic arms is attached either to the forearm or wrist of a subject via a cuff. Forces are then imparted by the robotic arm via the cuff in the full three-dimensional space surrounding the patient, allowing a range of full-motion functional activities that the patient can complete in a virtual environment generated by the robotic arms. Coordinated two-armed activities of daily living (ADL) can include lifting large virtual boxes onto virtual shelves, balancing virtual two-handle trays supporting an uneven array of weighty objects, and scrubbing virtual surfaces with both hands using a large virtual brush. Initially, it is hoped that this tool will enable clinical researchers in stroke rehabilitation to experiment with various modalities for bimanual interventions. If it can be shown that such a device improves the recovery from stroke beyond that of conventional techniques, then the business plan will ultimately be to provide an affordable bimanual device that can be used as a tool by rehabilitation clinicians. The proposed SBIR Phase I activities are divided into 3 aims. The first aim is to integrate two single-arm systems into a bimanual rehabilitation system (BiArm). This aim leverages a single-arm device (Proficio) just developed under a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) grant. This single-arm is built for haptic-interactions with the hand, wrist, or forearm of people, depending on the endpoint attachment. The first aim will be to integrate two separate systems into a bimanual system in which there is rich interaction between both robot arms and both of the patient's arms. The second aim will be to generate software that enables the user to engage in functional unimanual and bimanual tasks seeing the 3-dimensional perspective representation of the task on a large-format computer monitor and feeling the virtual forces that would be expected in such activities. The third aim is to study the usability of such a system when used with hemiparetic patients to seek whether the normal arm positively affects the weak arm when the patient is focused on a bimanual task. Six (6) hemiparetic patients at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, MA, will be selected for single-session interactions with the device, specifically performing two of th virtual ADLs. The system will be observed and evaluated for usability.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
Nearly a half-million Americans each year suffer from a type of stroke that particularly weakens one side of the body. This project will develop a novel robot-based system designed to enable a patient's strong arm to rehabilitate the weak arm following a stroke.

Project Terms:
3-Dimensional; Activities of Daily Living; Affect; Ambulatory Care Facilities; American; arm; base; Bilateral; Boston; Boxing; Businesses; Chicago; Clinical; Clinical Research; comparative effectiveness; Complement; Complex; computer monitor; Computer software; Coupled; Coupling; design; Devices; Environment; Equilibrium; Evaluation; Evaluation Studies; Exercise; experience; Feathers; Feedback; Feeling; Financial compensation; Force of Gravity; Forearm; functional outcomes; Funding Agency; Goals; Grant; Hand; Hand functions; haptics; Hemipareses; hospital laboratories; Hospitals; Human; Impaired cognition; improved; Individual; Institutes; Intervention; Laboratory Research; Lead; Left; Libraries; Lifting; Marketing; Mechanics; Methods; Modality; Motion; Motor; motor impairment; Movement; Names; novel; Patients; Phase; phase 1 study; Positioning Attribute; product development; prototype; public health relevance; Qualifying; Recruitment Activity; Rehabilitation device; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; research study; Robot; robot assistance; Robotics; Role; Rosa; Sampling; Side; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; software development; stroke; stroke recovery; stroke rehabilitation; Surface; Survivors; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; Therapeutic; tool; Touch sensation; transmission process; United States National Institutes of Health; Upper Extremity; usability; virtual; Wrist

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase-II project proposes a robotic system for rehabilitation of the arm and hand of stroke survivors. The system builds on hardware developed under a DARPA program and software being developed under the NIH Phase-I project. The existing hardware, called Proficio(tm), is presently being used in Phase I to develop and test BiArm(tm), a system consisting of two Proficio robot arms that enable bimanual rehabilitation. Phase II will focus on the design and development of Teneo(tm), a user- attachment for Proficio that will enable users to train hand-closing and hand-opening motions while simultaneously moving their arm to reach and grasp real objects. This novel system will be supported by a software architecture enabling development of rich visual, haptic, and physics-based environments for meaningful and engaging therapeutic games that can be tailored to patients' abilities and needs. The proposed SBIR Phase-II activities are divided into 3 aims. The first aim is to design and integrate an affordable robot end-effector (Teneo) for hand-rehabilitation. The new module will attach to the Proficio robot and will assist patients in performing hand-opening/closing motions to support activities of daily living (reaching for and grasping an object, for example). The second aim is to develop software interfaces and robot-control strategies that facilitate development of new rehabilitation strategies and empower therapists to employ activities tailored to each patient. This work will include development of powerful software modules including engaging rehabilitation activities that work in concert with the Proficio/Teneo control system. The third ai is to perform dual-site usability studies at two of the leading rehabilitation research facilities n the country. There are two long-term commercial goals: 1) develop a robotic system that researchers can use to rapidly innovate and develop new data-driven arm-and-hand rehabilitation strategies, and 2) empower therapists to tailor rehabilitation activities to individal patients while tracking progress and keeping patients engaged.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
Nearly a half-million Americans each year suffer from a type of stroke that particularly weakens one side of the body. The Phase-I project is developing an accessible robot-based system designed to enable a patient's strong arm to help rehabilitate the weak arm following a stroke. The Phase-II project will build upon this system with a hand-rehabilitation module and advanced software enabling coupled reaching/grasping of real objects.

NIH Spending Category:
Assistive Technology; Behavioral and Social Science; Bioengineering; Brain Disorders; Cerebrovascular; Clinical Research; Networking and Information Technology R&D; Physical Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation; Stroke

Project Terms:
Activities of Daily Living; American; Architecture; arm; base; Boston; Chicago; Clinical; clinical research site; Complement; Computer software; Country; Coupled; Data; design; Development; Devices; Distal; empowered; engineering design; Environment; Evaluation Studies; Exercise; experience; Feedback; functional outcomes; Funding; Goals; grasp; Hand; hand grasp; hand rehabilitation; haptics; Hospitals; Human; Human Resources; Impaired cognition; improved; Individual; innovation; Institutes; Intervention; Lead; Marketing; Mechanics; meetings; Methods; Motion; Motor; motor function recovery; motor impairment; motor recovery; novel; Operating System; Patients; Phase; phase 2 study; Physics; programs; prototype; public health relevance; Qualifying; Rehabilitation device; Rehabilitation Research; rehabilitation strategy; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; research facility; Research Personnel; Robot; robot assistance; robot control; robot rehabilitation; Robotics; Safety; Series; Side; Site; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; software development; Software Engineering; Software Tools; stroke; stroke rehabilitation; stroke survivor; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; Therapeutic; Training; transmission process; United States National Institutes of Health; Upper Extremity; usability; virtual; Visual; Work