Shape Memory Actuators for Medical Rehabilitation and Neuroscience

Pittaccio, Simone; Viscuso, Stefano

doi:10.5772/50201

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…the heating of resistive conductors by an electric current. Our group has already published some work on applications of SMA actuation for the rehabilitation field [2,8,9]. For more details on SMA, the reader is referred to specialized literature [10].…”

Section: Phenomenology and Application Of Shape Memory Alloysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive ankle dorsiflexion by an automated device and the reactivity of the motor cortical network

Pittaccio

Zappasodi

Tamburro

et al. 2013

2013 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Gait impairment is an important consequence of neurological disease. Passive mobilization of the affected lower limbs is often prescribed in order to safeguard tissue properties and prevent circulatory sequelae during paresis. However, passive movement could play a role also in stimulating cortical areas of the brain devoted to the control of the lower limb, so that deafferentation and learned non-use can be contrasted. The purpose of the present work is to investigate cortical involvement during active and passive movements of the ankle joint, in an attempt to gain deeper insight in the similarities between these two conditions. A wearable device to mobilize the ankle joint was implemented utilizing rotary shape memory alloy actuators. The technical characteristics of this actuator make it very compatible with the tight limitations on electromagnetic noise imposed by diagnostic instrumentation. Eleven healthy volunteers took part in the pre-clinical phase of the study. According to the protocol, brain activity was recorded by 165-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) under three different conditions: rest, active dorsiflexion of the ankle and passive mobilization of the same joint. The acquired data were processed to obtain cortical ERD/ERS (Event Related Desynchronization/ Synchronization) maps, which were then compared. The results of this analysis show that there are similar patterns of activity between active and passive movement, particularly in β band, in the contralateral primary sensorimotor, dorsal premotor and supplementary motor areas. This result, albeit obtained from healthy subjects, might suggest that passive motion provides somatosensory afferences that, to some extent, are processed in a similar manner as for voluntary control. Should this evidence be confirmed by further experiments on neurological patients, it could support the prescription of passive exercise as a surrogate of active workout, at least, so long as patients are paretic.

show abstract

Section: Phenomenology and Application Of Shape Memory Alloysmentioning

confidence: 99%

Passive ankle dorsiflexion by an automated device and the reactivity of the motor cortical network

Pittaccio

Zappasodi

Tamburro

et al. 2013

2013 35th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC)

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…[3] Voluntary repeatable shape transformation, material biocompatibility, and small weight of NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators make them suitable for medical applications. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Usage of NiTi SMA actuators for muscular contraction, [8] artificial anal sphincter, [7] urethral valve, [13] myocardium, [8] drug delivery system, [3] and most recently, voiding of a bladder, [14] has been reported.The previous SMA-based actuator for voiding of a bladder consisted of a flexible vest that covered the bladder surface and physically contracted it upon the actuation of assembled SMA wires. [14] Since a fixed length was considered for SMA wires in this design, the device could be used for only one bladder size that was matched with the total inner diameter of actuator.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Anchorage Dependence of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators on Enhanced Voiding of a Bladder

Hassani

Gammad

Mogan

et al. 2017

Adv Materials Technologies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

for such transformation. [3] Voluntary repeatable shape transformation, material biocompatibility, and small weight of NiTi shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators make them suitable for medical applications. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Usage of NiTi SMA actuators for muscular contraction, [8] artificial anal sphincter, [7] urethral valve, [13] myocardium, [8] drug delivery system, [3] and most recently, voiding of a bladder, [14] has been reported.The previous SMA-based actuator for voiding of a bladder consisted of a flexible vest that covered the bladder surface and physically contracted it upon the actuation of assembled SMA wires. [14] Since a fixed length was considered for SMA wires in this design, the device could be used for only one bladder size that was matched with the total inner diameter of actuator. The proposed design in our study has a more conformable vest that can be fitted for a wider range of bladder sizes in rats with similar body weight, and can substantially improve the voiding volume and energy consumption of the device.The previous SMA-based actuator was proposed for assisting the detrusor muscle in myogenic underactive bladder (UAB) patient with detrusor muscle contractility disorder but intact nerves. [14] Our study broadens the application of the actuating device also to neurogenic UAB patients suffering from both damaged detrusor muscle and nervous system; these patients are not able to rely on the natural nerve pathways to realize The use of shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators to restore voiding of bladder for myogenic under active bladder (UAB) patients is proposed recently. Even though previous work show the unique capability of this technology for bladder voiding, the low voiding volume and high energy consumption of the device limit the advancement of this technique. This study proposes a novel approach using an interlaced configuration to overcome these limitations. In this device, SMA actuators are threaded through rigid anchor points of the flexible vest. The novel anchorage of SMA actuators provides more conformability for the vest and lower energy consumption for the device, while the new interlaced configuration enhances the voiding volume. The device is tested initially on a rubber model for the bladder, then it is implanted in an anesthetized rat, and a voiding volume of more than 20% at 4 V is successfully achieved. A commercial force sensor is integrated with the device to make it suitable for neurogenic UAB patients. The sensor provides a feedback control signal to the patient to initiate the actuation of the device upon fullness of bladder. The overall system is a promising advance over the state-of-the-art providing bladder voiding in UAB patients.

show abstract

“…This principle was implemented in different ways obtaining linear actuators as explained in [ 10 ] and rotary ones as shown in [ 29 ]. Both designs enabled successful neuroscience studies on brain reactivity to passive ankle mobilization in healthy subjects, respectively [ 20 , 30 ] and [ 20 , 31 ].…”

Section: Results and Discussion Of Selected Rehabilitation Applicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Applications of Shape Memory Alloys for Neurology and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation

Pittaccio

Garavaglia

Ceriotti

et al. 2015

JFB

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are a very promising class of metallic materials that display interesting nonlinear properties, such as pseudoelasticity (PE), shape memory effect (SME) and damping capacity, due to high mechanical hysteresis and internal friction. Our group has applied SMA in the field of neuromuscular rehabilitation, designing some new devices based on the mentioned SMA properties: in particular, a new type of orthosis for spastic limb repositioning, which allows residual voluntary movement of the impaired limb and has no predetermined final target position, but follows and supports muscular elongation in a dynamic and compliant way. Considering patients in the sub-acute phase after a neurological lesion, and possibly bedridden, the paper presents a mobiliser for the ankle joint, which is designed exploiting the SME to provide passive exercise to the paretic lower limb. Two different SMA-based applications in the field of neuroscience are then presented, a guide and a limb mobiliser specially designed to be compatible with diagnostic instrumentations that impose rigid constraints in terms of electromagnetic compatibility and noise distortion. Finally, the paper discusses possible uses of these materials in the treatment of movement disorders, such as dystonia or hyperkinesia, where their dynamic characteristics can be advantageous.

show abstract

Shape Memory Actuators for Medical Rehabilitation and Neuroscience

Cited by 15 publications

References 44 publications

Passive ankle dorsiflexion by an automated device and the reactivity of the motor cortical network

Passive ankle dorsiflexion by an automated device and the reactivity of the motor cortical network

Design and Anchorage Dependence of Shape Memory Alloy Actuators on Enhanced Voiding of a Bladder

Applications of Shape Memory Alloys for Neurology and Neuromuscular Rehabilitation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About