For stroke survivors and many other people with upper-extremity impairment, daily life can be difficult without properly functioning arms. Some modern physical therapy exercises focus on rehabilitating people with these troubles by correcting patients' perceptions of their own body to eventually regain complete control and strength over their arms again. Augmentative wearable robots, such as the upper-extremity exoskeletons and exosuits, may be able to assist in this endeavor. A common drawback in many of these exoskeletons, however, is their inability to conform to the natural flexibility of the human body without a rigid base. We have built one such exosuit to address this challenge: Compliant Robotic Upper-extremity eXosuit (CRUX). This robot is a compliant, lightweight, multi-DoF, portable exosuit that affords its wearer the ability to augment themselves in many unconventional settings (i.e. outside of a clinic). These attributes are largely achieved by using a modified tensegrity design situated according to measured lines of minimal-extension, where a network of tension members provide a foundation to apply augmentative forces via precisely placed power-lines. In this paper, we detail the design process of CRUX, the report on CRUX's prototypical composition, and describe the mimetic control algorithm used. We also discuss the results of three studies that illustrate the efficacy of CRUX's mimetic controller, CRUX's flexibility and compliance, and the metabolic cost reduction when users exercise with assistance from CRUX as opposed to without. We conclude this paper with a summary of our findings, potential use cases for this technology, and the direction of future related work.
Continuous glucose monitoring from sweat and tears can improve the quality of life of diabetic patients and provide data for more accurate diagnosis and treatment. Current continuous glucose sensors use enzymes with a one-to-two week lifespan, which forces periodic replacement. Metal oxide sensors are an alternative to enzymatic sensors with a longer lifetime. However, metal oxide sensors do not operate in sweat and tears because they function at high pH (pH > 10), and sweat and tears are neutral (pH = 7). Here, we introduce a non-enzymatic metal oxide glucose sensor that functions in neutral fluids by electronically inducing a reversible and localized pH change. We demonstrate glucose monitoring at physiologically relevant levels in neutral fluids mimicking sweat, and wireless communication with a personal computer via an integrated circuit board.
Wearable robots can potentially offer their users enhanced stability and strength. These augmentations are ideally designed to actuate harmoniously with the user's movements and provide extra force as needed. The creation of such robots, however, is particularly challenging due to the underlying complexity of the human body. In this paper, we present a compliant, robotic exosuit for upper extremities called CRUX. This exosuit, inspired by tensegrity models of the human arm, features a lightweight (1.3 kg), flexible multi-joint design for portable augmentation. We also illustrate how CRUX maintains the full range of motion of the upper-extremities for its users while providing multi-DoF strength amplification to the major muscles of the arm, as evident by tracking the heart rate of an individual exercising said arm. Exosuits such as CRUX may be useful in physical therapy and in extreme environments where users are expected to exert their bodies to the fullest extent.
Simultaneous longitudinal imaging across multiple conditions and replicates has been crucial for scientific studies aiming to understand biological processes and disease. Yet, imaging systems capable of accomplishing these tasks are economically unattainable for most academic and teaching laboratories around the world. Here, we propose the Picroscope, which is the first low-cost system for simultaneous longitudinal biological imaging made primarily using off-the-shelf and 3D-printed materials. The Picroscope is compatible with standard 24-well cell culture plates and captures 3D z-stack image data. The Picroscope can be controlled remotely, allowing for automatic imaging with minimal intervention from the investigator. Here, we use this system in a range of applications. We gathered longitudinal whole organism image data for frogs, zebrafish, and planaria worms. We also gathered image data inside an incubator to observe 2D monolayers and 3D mammalian tissue culture models. Using this tool, we can measure the behavior of entire organisms or individual cells over long-time periods.
Life is built upon closed-loop feedback and regulation systems that maintain a delicate balance of environmental and metabolic conditions that support cellular function. [1] Bioelectronic devices interface electronic devices with biology with potential for sensing and actuation. [2-5] A challenge for bioelectronic devices is translating between ionic and biochemical signals that dominate biology into electronic currents in the devices and vice versa. Iontronics addresses this challenge by modulating ions directly at the device level rather than electron and holes as in traditional semiconductors. [6] Electrophoretic ion pumps mediate the delivery of ions and charged molecules with an induced electric field [7] to treat epilepsy, [6] chronic pain, [8] inflammation, [9] and to actuate movement in plants. [10] In addition, bioprotonic devices can sense and actuate the flow of H þ in field effect transistors (H þ-FETs), [11,12] enzymatic logic gates, [12] and ion channels. [13] A cell's resting potential, V mem , is an electrical control signal that occurs between the interior of the cell and the extracellular environment regulated by ion channels. [14] In nonexcitable cells, [15] V mem affects cell physiology and functions such as proliferation, differentiation, migration, and apoptosis, as well as cell-cell communication and large-scale morphogenesis. [16] Recently, optically actuated
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