An international team of researchers has been working on an innovative framework using movement-assistive robots designed to help mobility-impaired individuals to enhancing athletic performance.
Researchers from Griffith University, University of Twente in the Netherlands, and McGill University in Canada have announced the release of CEINMS-RT, Calibrated EMG-informed Neuromusculoskeletal Modelling Software – Real-Time.
Associate Professor Claudio Pizzolato from Griffith University’s School of Health Sciences and Social Work and the Australian Centre for Precision Health and Technology (PRECISE) was part of the team which designed the ground-breaking real-time, neuro-mechanical movement-assistive robots such as exoskeletons, exosuits, and bionic limbs.
“There is incredible potential for using wearable robots to support humans during rehabilitation,” Associate Professor Pizzolato said.
“Neural information from the wearer is combined with a human digital twin to precisely assess how muscles are coordinated to generate movement.
“Practically, this allows us to create smarter wearable robots which can better understand the user and act as natural extensions of the human body, also compensating for neurological injuries.”
In clinical trials, patients with neurological impairments successfully regained volitional control of their limbs by using robotic exoskeletons.
CEINMS-RT also enabled real-time biofeedback for personalised rehabilitation, optimising muscle and joint load to prevent injuries and enhance recovery outcomes.
In addition, CEINMS-RT has been used to create adaptive control systems for back-support exosuits, reducing lumbar spine loads during heavy lifting tasks, and bionic limbs, allowing users to achieve natural and intuitive movement.
“This is an exciting milestone for the use of wearable robotics in rehabilitation,” Associate Professor Pizzolato said.
“We are now deploying this technology for rehabilitation after spinal cord injury as part of our BioSpine project, further broadening its impact.”
The paper ‘CEINMS-RT: an open-source framework for the continuous neuro-mechanical model-based control of wearable robots’ has been published in .
The software is publicly available .
