Robots May Enhance Disabled People’s Lives

A U.S. study foresees robots as improving both the quality and flexibility of the lives of people with disabilities that affect the use of their limbs.

The robotics engineering research, sponsored by The National Science Foundation, utilized physiological information — called bio-signals — produced by the human body to improve external assistive devices called orthoses that help stroke or spinal cord injury patients regain the use of their arms and legs.

“The data collected through this project will assist designers and engineers in developing more sophisticated assistive aids for individuals suffering from various neuromuscular diseases and musculoskeletal injuries,” said Rochester Institute of Technology Assistant Professor Edward Brown.

He said a robotic orthosis can take advantage of an individual’s residual strength and any remaining physiological information in their limbs, such as an electromyographic signal produced in muscles. That could ultimately assist muscular dystrophy patients in regaining significant use of there limbs.

“Better orthotic technologies could ultimately help people suffering from this disease (to) greatly enhance the quality of their life,” Brown says.

The project also included scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgetown University.