ultrasound.asia

phealth

biosensing

bio-informatics

RIIPT

ˇ@

BTRS / DRES / Bat Ear / Elderly Fall
* Patent Pending

 Bio-mechatronic Therapeutic Robotic System (BTRS)*

(large sized system)
PolyJBot ˇV Rehabilitation system driven by human intention (Available in two different sizes).
ˇ@
Description:

A Rehabilitation system providing therapeutic training exercises, driven by human intention as represented by electromyography signals of muscle activities. ˇ@

ˇ@
Why uses PolyJbot?

The need for effective and productive rehabilitation has been increasing in recent years because of the escalating number of people with disabilities after stroke. Currently, most therapeutic exercises for people after stroke and elderly are conducted by physical therapists and thus training session and duration are limited by the therapist availability and the location of the hospital and clinics. Therefore, it is best to have a training system which can assist this type of exercise training and the system can be controlled by the users with inputs from the therapists. Also, traditional training is passive, as opposed to patient actively interacting with the rehabilitation robotic system.

  • Exercise / training for elderly and people after stroke.ˇ@
Features and Functions:

  • Intention-driven: Users' intention is captured through the muscle activities from electromyography (EMG) signals measured by the electrode placed on the muscle.
    ˇ@

  • Data-collection and Analysis: Analyze the data and real-time control the robotic system based on the intention of user. The system generates reports on the training performance of the user during the training exercise.
    ˇ@

  • Assistive & Resistive Forces: Generate training regimes with different combination of assistive and resistive forces during the exercise.
    ˇ@

  • Interactive Game Interface: User engages in the training having fun from gaming.
    ˇ@

  • Multi-Joints Selection: User can train the four different joints (including wrist, elbow, knee and ankle) with the same system using the two modules, respectively, for upper and lower limbs.

  • Interactive games to encourage
    active participations.

  • User can train the different joints
    with the same system.
Benefits over existing competitive technologies/products:ˇ@
  • The control algorithm of the system is driven by usersˇ¦ EMG signals, which takes advantage of the measured human desire/intention while conducting the rehabilitation training rather than forced by groups of system preset regimes.

  • The system is intelligently controlled to move according to a ˇ§controlˇ¨ algorithm based on the detected EMG signal.

  • User can train the different joints (including wrist, elbow, knee and ankle) horizontally and vertically with the same system.


- Wrist

- Elbow

- Knee

- Ankle
Innovative design to cater for different training occasions:ˇ@
  • Large sized robotic system is designed for using in Hospital and clinics.
  • Small sized (PolyJbot mini-version system) portable system is designed for using at home and compact areas. ˇ@

      
ˇ@

Possible Application Areas: ˇ@
  • Chronic stroke patients - 6 months (or above) after stroke

  • Spinal cord injured patients

  • Elderly training

  • Sports injured

  • Baby-boomers (health conscious, middle-age group).

Main components of PolyJbot (For the large size system):
  • Main robotic tower

  • Seat and slide module

  • Two different sizes of arm/wrist training bars

  • One ankle/knee training bar • Touch Screen Monitor and PC

  • Electrode wires for recording EMG signals ˇ@

Award-winning Invention:
  • The ˇ§Rehabilitation system driven by human intentionˇ¨ has received a Gold Award in the Innova Brussels held at Brussels, Belgium 22-25th November 2007. Innova Brussels features annually the world exhibition of invention, research, and industrial innovation.

ˇ@

ˇ@

ˇ@

  • The ˇ§Rehabilitation system driven by human intentionˇ¨ has also received a special recognition from the Ministry of Education in Romania at the Innova Brussels. ˇ@
Product Collaborators:

          

            
ˇ@

Contact and Enquires:
Prof Wallace Leung
Tel: 852-2766 6670 Fax: 852-2764 0011
Email: riwl@polyu.edu.hk

Top


* Patent Pendinggg

Drug Release and Electrical Stimulation (DRES)*

Smart Therapy ˇV An Integrated Therapy for Pain Management

Description: ˇ@

A Smart device to sense, monitor and treat pain through optimal Transcutaneous Electrical Nervous Stimulation (TENS) at acupuncture points with similar effect as TCM acupuncture despite it is a non-invasive treatment. ˇ@

ˇ@
Why uses SMART THERAPY?
  • Increasing aging problems

  • Increasing demand from patients with different pain problems (e.g. joint pain, osteoarthritis knee, shoulder pain, elbow pain, chronic pain, lower back pain etc.)

  • Patients are reluctant to receive invasive treatment with chronic and acute pain problems.

  • Patients not be able to receive treatments until
    the actual pain symptoms occur.

ˇ@

Arthritis Inflammation

Features and Functions:

ˇ@

- Graph of recorded pain & therapeutic data

  • Adjustable TENS Therapy (providing electrical stimulus)

  • Detection of pain-related early physiological signals by monitoring real-time temperature change on the treating area with reference on the same person.

  • Automatic treatment being triggered as temperature difference with reference exceeds pre-set threshold.

  • Constant electrical stimulation to prevent skin overheating

  • Heating to provide soothing and enhancing transdermal mediation using same TENS pads.

  • Proven drug delivery through gel pad added to TENS pad.

  • Real-time graphical analysis on recorded therapeutic data.

  • Historic pain profile and therapeutic data can be transferred for off-line assessment and basis for new treatment protocol.

Benefits over existing competitive technologies/products: ˇ@
  • Existing TENS devices have no sensing capability for pain indication.

  • Our device detects change of skin temperature at the pain area as an indication of pain levels to trigger electrical stimulation for pain relief.

  • Our device produces optimal electrical stimulation that provides constant therapeutic effect and facilitate 45% more endogenous generation of b-endorphin compared to existing TENS. ˇ@

Innovative design:
  • Light weight and portable control unit.

  • Tri-star TENS pads to provide better fixation control and comfort.

Possible Application Areas:
  • Personal (pervasive)

  • Hospital Clinics

  • Elderly Home

  • Household

  • Sports training complex

Components & Accessories:ˇ@
  • Main control unit
  • A TENS cable with replaceable electrodes
  • Additional gel pads for applying proven drug
  • Carrying case and straps for portable usage
  • Battery Charger
  • PC data cable for therapeutic data transfer ˇ@
Award-winning Invention:
  • Smart Therapy has received a Bronze Award in the 60th International Trade Fair, Ideas-Inventions-New Products (IENA) held at Nuremberg, Germany 30 Oct ˇV 2 Nov 2008

Collaborators:

  

    

    

 

Contact and Enquires:
Dr Cheng Ching-Hsiang
Tel: 852-3400 3523 Fax: 852-2764 0011
Email: richeng@polyu.edu.hk

Top

ˇ@

* Patent Pending

Bat Ear*

The Bat Ear project includes three electronic gadgets for understanding of the mind of People with vision impairment:ˇ@

  1. Ultrasonic Eye-glass (Improved version of Bat Ear Eye-glass)

  2. Sonar Shoes

  3. Smart Location Finder

Ultrasonic Eye-glass (Improved version of Bat Ear Eye-glass)

Electronic gadget of Eyeglasses equipping with ultrasonic transceiver technology.
ˇ@

Features and Functions:
  • Equipped with ultrasonic transmission and reception technology, it helps to detect obstacles further away from vision impaired users.

  • After training, vision impaired user can use both white cane and Bat-Ear Eyeglasses to detect obstacles further away at both above and below waist level.

  • It benefits vision impaired user to extend detection range and position of obstacles above waist level.

  • It alerts to vision impaired user by generating audio sound with different frequency and intensity at left and right earphone for obstacles distance from far to near above the waist level.

  •  
Possible Application Areas:
  • Vision impaired users

  • Gaming ˇ@

Impact to Community:

Able to advance the knowledge of the mind and to understand the neural plasticity in the people with vision impairment which could make drastic changes to this community of people. The neural plasticity would be on enhancing new visual, spatial and motor functions.ˇ@

ˇ@

Sonar Shoe

An Electronic gadget attaching on the nose of shoes equipping with ultrasonic transceiver technology.
ˇ@

Features and Functions:
  • The Sonar Shoes can supplement the Ultrasonic eyeglasses to provide ground level obstacle information to vision impairment people by generating vibration or buzzer signals.

  • By utilizing ultrasonic transceiver technology and DSP with neural network technique, the Sonar Shoes can further provide enrich ground information such as type of ground surface and conditions (dry or wet) of ground.

  • Signal information can be fed to a computer for further processing where the information on the floor conditions can be conveyed to the user by means of different vibration patterns to be felt by each foot.

Possible Application Areas:
  • Vision impaired users

  • Gaming ˇ@

Impact to Community:

Similar to the Ultrasonic Eyeglasses above with Sonar Shoes supplements the Ultrasonic eyeglasses to provide ground level (below the waist level) obstacle information.

ˇ@
Smart Location Finder
A Portable Pedestrian Navigation system.
ˇ@
Features and Functions:
  • It provides navigation for vision impaired users, and pedestrians (such as tourist).
  • It utilizes GPS, Dead Reckoning technique, and GIS (Geographic Information System) technology to extend navigation capability in urban area, generating synthesized voice from a Personal-Digital Assistant (PDA) device to provide verbal descriptions of usersˇ¦ position.

  • Handled, pocket sized device, wireless interface to PDA.
Benefits over existing competitive technologies/products
  • Provide reckoned location information with absent of GPS coverage.

  • Improved accuracy of the location in urban area.

Possible Application Areas
  • Vision impaired users

  • Tourist

  • Elderly

  • Hiker

  • Vehicle tracking

Impact to Community
There is a need to have an improved version of GPS navigation system in urban area location such as Hong Kong, where high-rise buildings could affect the GPS signals seriously.
ˇ@
Collaborators:

   

    

ˇ@

Contact and Enquires:
Prof Wallace Leung
Tel: 852-2766 6670 Fax: 852-2764 0011
Email: riwl@polyu.edu.hk

Top

ˇ@


* Patent Pending

Elderly Fall Detection System*

A fall prevention system for detection and alerting respectively the ˇ§fallˇ¨ and ˇ§motionlessˇ¨ scenarios for elderly people, infants, and other applicable users.

Features and Functions:
  • Wearable: The system is small enough to be conveniently attached to the user.

  • Portable: Operated by battery with re-charging capability. Audio Alert: Audio alert at ˇ§fallˇ¨ or ˇ§other motionˇ¨ scenarios.

  • Recording: Can record the sensors data for activity profile in a SD card.

  • Record retrieval: The content of the SD card can be transferred to PC for assessing userˇ¦s activity profile.

- Fall Prevention System

Benefits over existing competitive technologies/products:

Besides the functions which those peer products have, including detecting health and life threatening fall events in elderly persons, and autonomously notifying nursing personnel or family members that the user is in need of immediate assistance, it also has a function of risk prediction for a potential fall.
ˇ@

Possible Application Areas:
  • Elderly persons

  • Infants

  • Drivers

  • Prisoners

Impact to Community:

First, In highly industrialized regions, it's more and more common that the elderly stay home alone from their working children, and infants away from their working parents. There are significant extra needs to provide intelligent assistance in fall detection/warning. ˇ@

Second, it has been proven that ageing changes motion patterns which destabilize the human locomotion balance mechanism. Falls due to tripping in the elderly are the result of declines in the balance control function due to ageing. Therefore, based on the fall prediction information, preventive or rehabilitative measures can be taken to prevent/reduce the happening of dangerous scenarios.
ˇ@

Contact and Enquires:
Prof YP Zheng
Tel: 852-2766 7664 Fax: 852-2764 0011
Email: yongping.zheng@polyu.edu.hk

Top

         Privacy Policy Statement | Copyright Statement
         Copyright © 2009 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. All right reserved. ˇ@