{"title":"Design of a Semi-Active Ankle Foot Prosthesis Using a Pneumatic and Hydraulic Hybrid for Stiffness and Energy Timing Control.","authors":"Sy Nguyen, Sepehr Ramezani, Hwan Choi","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063036","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lower-limb amputees require ankle-foot prostheses with adjustable stiffness and energy return timing to adapt to varying walking speeds, as well as adequate ankle push-off power to propel the body forward. Most passive prostheses utilize energy storage and return with carbon fiber blades (CFBs), but their single stiffness and early energy return timing limit their effectiveness for propulsion. Quasi-active or powered prostheses with CFBs also fail to fully utilize the energy storage and return capabilities of the CFB. As a result, many quasiactive prostheses lack precise energy return timing, while powered prostheses rely on large motors or bulky hydraulic cylinders. In this paper, we present the Pneumatic and Hydraulic Hybrid Prosthesis (PHHP), designed to adjust stiffness and energy return timing. The system leverages the compressible and incompressible properties of pneumatic and hydraulic systems to enable both stiffness adjustment and stored energy delivery timing. The PHHP includes three pneumatic chambers of varying sizes that adjust the resistance of a hydraulic cylinder by turning valves on and off, enabling variable stiffness. The hydraulic cylinder stores energy from the carbon fiber foot's deformation and releases it for push-off assistance via a hydraulic valve. Theoretical and experimental results show the PHHP's potential for push-off assistance and variable stiffness (24.3-54 N/mm), making it adaptable to different walking speeds for lower-limb amputees.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"358-363"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612461","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Sophie Knill, Shuyang Shi, Chris Awai Easthope, Meret Branscheidt, Olivier Lambercy
{"title":"Development and Evaluation of a Device to Assess Finger Individuation in Neurorehabilitation.","authors":"Anna Sophie Knill, Shuyang Shi, Chris Awai Easthope, Meret Branscheidt, Olivier Lambercy","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Finger individuation, the ability to independently control fingers, is a critical component of hand function that is often impaired in people with neurological conditions. To address the need for sensitive tools to measure finger individuation in clinical and research settings, an assessment device was developed and tested. Equipped with force sensors under each finger, an individuation index (IndX) in both flexion and extension was calculated. Feasibility of the device was assessed by measuring able-bodied participants and neurological patients. The reliability of the finger individuation assessments was evaluated in a test-retest setting, showing high consistency, with Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and Spearman correlation classified as moderate to excellent (ICC for flexion of thumb: 0.73, $p < 0.001$: index: 0.68, $p < 0.001$: middle: 0.48, $p=0.003$; ring: 0.72, $p < 0.001$; little: 0.80, $p < 0.001$). Validity was further examined by comparing the IndX across fingers and between groups, utilizing t-tests and the Area Under the Curve (AUC) from Receiver Operating Characteristic analysis. Although AUC values indicated a mixed discriminative ability, the device successfully captured differences in finger control between able-bodied individuals and patients. These results indicate that the device offers a reliable and effective means of quantifying finger individuation, opening the door to advanced fine hand motor control research and through that, personalized rehabilitation.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"450-455"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612464","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Adaptive Negative Damping Control for User-Dependent Multi-Terrain Walking Assistance With a Hip Exoskeleton.","authors":"Giulia Ramella, Auke Ijspeert, Mohamed Bouri","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063198","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063198","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hip exoskeletons are known for their versatility in assisting users across varied scenarios. However, current assistive strategies often lack the flexibility to accommodate for individual walking patterns and adapt to diverse locomotion environments. In this work, we present a novel control strategy that adapts the mechanical impedance of the humanexoskeleton system. We design the hip assistive torques as an adaptive virtual negative damping, which is able to inject energy into the system while allowing the users to remain in control and contribute voluntarily to the movements. Experiments with five healthy subjects demonstrate that our controller reduces the metabolic cost of walking compared to free walking (average reduction of 7.2 %), and it preserves the lower-limbs kinematics. Additionally, our method achieves minimal power losses from the exoskeleton across the entire gait cycle (less than 2 % negative mechanical power out of the total power), ensuring synchronized action with the users' movements. Moreover, we use Bayesian Optimization to adapt the assistance strength and allow for seamless adaptation and transitions across multiterrain environments. Our strategy achieves efficient power transmission under all conditions. Our approach demonstrates an individualized, adaptable, and straightforward controller for hip exoskeletons, advancing the development of viable, adaptive, and user-dependent control laws.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"1340-1346"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Benedek J Tasi, David L Pelyva, David Hollo, Zsofia Nguyen, Boroka G Molnar, Balazs Kraz, Marton I Klenczner, Veronika Kiss, Balazs I Formanek, Marton B Naszlady
{"title":"An Anatomically Accurate Biomimetic Robotic Hand with Textile Connective Tissues.","authors":"Benedek J Tasi, David L Pelyva, David Hollo, Zsofia Nguyen, Boroka G Molnar, Balazs Kraz, Marton I Klenczner, Veronika Kiss, Balazs I Formanek, Marton B Naszlady","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063175","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063175","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Artificial hands are developed and employed widely for solving challenges in present-day robotics, with an increasing number of such systems being integrated into our daily lives. For humanoid or human-centric applications in medical or industrial sectors demanding increased naturality, biomimetics offers a promising approach. However, replicating biological structures and functions to the detail commonly results in excessive complexity in both design and production, preventing widespread adoption. This work presents a biomimetic hand developed with the use of modern procedural design methods and additive and textile production technologies, evaluated with a modular actuator frame through grasp and gesture demonstrations and finger trajectory analysis. The results aim to exemplify how leveraging these advancements may enable the creation of naturally compliant robotic devices with intricate functionality, while simultaneously satisfying the industrial requirements for robustness, cost-effectiveness and production scalability, therefore bringing the universal applicability of such systems within reach.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"1461-1466"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sven Suppelt, Max Ulshofer, Niklas Schafer, Alexander A Altmann, Yannick Chatelais, Julian Seiler, Jan Helge Dorsam, Bastian Latsch, Mario Kupnik
{"title":"Applying Palpation Forces on a Lower Jaw Model Using a Collaborative Robotic Arm.","authors":"Sven Suppelt, Max Ulshofer, Niklas Schafer, Alexander A Altmann, Yannick Chatelais, Julian Seiler, Jan Helge Dorsam, Bastian Latsch, Mario Kupnik","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Traditional medical diagnostics heavily rely on the subjective expertise of physicians during palpation procedures, where muscles or tissues are examined by manually applying pressure. This work presents a robotic solution using a KUKA iiwa 14 R820 to replicate this diagnostic technique, for addressing the physician shortage, enhancing physician training, and integrating robotic arms into diagnostics. We emulate the palpation process, measure and analyze the forces applied by the robot on a test bench, and compare the uncertainty with palpation forces applied by physicians and the palpometer. As pain perception during palpation can indicate potential underlying conditions, we further incorporate a pain equivalence measurement into our system using a hand grip force sensor, completing it by developing a graphical user interface for visualization and control. Our results indicate that, while errors within the robot dominate the accuracy of the force application, a well-chosen robot configuration achieves comparable force application errors at typical palpation forces of approximately 5 N, 10 N, and 20 N. The resulting maximum errors are 1.24 N, 0.67 N, and 0.565 N, respectively, which are smaller for both larger forces than the palpation uncertainties of trained physicians. Our findings demonstrate that robotic systems can effectively emulate and refine palpation techniques, providing a foundation for their broader adoption in healthcare.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"860-864"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Madisyn R Adelman, Maja Gorsic, Grace McClatchey, Jacob R Rammer
{"title":"Cardiovascular Assessment of Manual Wheelchair Users with 6-Minute Push Test: VO<sub>2</sub> Formula.","authors":"Madisyn R Adelman, Maja Gorsic, Grace McClatchey, Jacob R Rammer","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063131","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063131","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Manual wheelchair users are prone to a more sedentary lifestyle due to their limited mobility and, therefore, decreased cardiovascular health. Regular assessment of their cardiovascular fitness can help with appropriate interventions and overall improvement in their quality of life. One way of assessing cardiovascular health of manual wheelchair users is the 6 -minute push test (6MPT), adapted from the 6 -minute walk test. In this study, 5 novice and 5 expert wheelchair users performed the 6MPT while wearing a heart rate monitor and $text{VO}_{2}$ mask. Significant correlation ($mathrm{r}=0.685, mathrm{p}=0.029$) was found between the distance completed and the max value of the $text{VO}_{2}$ recorded during the 6MPT. Additionally, a linear regression model was constructed and found statistically significant $(mathrm{F}(1,8)=22.3, mathrm{p}=0.0015)$. The model can serve clinicians as a convenient and direct indicator of cardiovascular fitness for manual wheelchair users without the need of additional heartrate sensors or $text{VO}_{2}$ mask.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"609-613"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Miniaturized Wearable Ultrasound System for Simultaneous Prediction of Wrist Angle and Grip Force During Dynamic Reaching.","authors":"Afsana Hossain Rima, Zahra Taghizadeh, Ahmed Bashatah, Abhishek Aher, Siddhartha Sikdar","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063113","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Predicting grip force and wrist angle during dynamic hand movements is crucial for advancing upper-limb prosthetic systems, enabling simultaneous and proportional control of multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). This study introduces a novel wearable ultrasound-based system that leverages M-mode data from four single-element transducers placed on the forearm to capture muscle activity for the concurrent prediction of grip force and wrist angle. A multi-layer perceptron (MLP) regressor was utilized for the simultaneous prediction of both parameters, and a comparative analysis was conducted using a Gaussian process regressor (GPR), which is commonly adopted previously in similar studies. The system was validated on unseen data from five participants without limb loss. The MLP demonstrated superior performance compared to GPR, achieving $mathbf{R}^{mathbf{2}}$ values of $0.85 pm 0.06$ for wrist angle prediction and $0.74 pm 0.07$ for grip force. These findings underscore the challenges of predicting simultaneous grip force and wrist angle during dynamic hand movements and highlight the need to address these issues for intuitive and practical prosthetic control in real-world scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"767-772"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shriram Tallam Puranam Raghu, Heather E Williams, Erik Scheme
{"title":"Efficient Multi-Positioned Training for Regression-Based Myoelectric Control: Exploring Transformer Models with Transfer Learning.","authors":"Shriram Tallam Puranam Raghu, Heather E Williams, Erik Scheme","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063067","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063067","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>State-of-the-art upper-limb myoelectric prostheses are typically controlled using classification-based models that do not offer simultaneous control of wrist and hand movements (degrees of freedom or DOFs). Regression-based alternatives are being studied because they do offer simultaneous DOF control, yielding more natural movements, but generally require longer training routines. We investigated methods to reduce the training burden for regression-based myoelectric control. Five different methods to train regression models were tested using electromyographic (EMG) data collected from the forearms of 10 able-bodied participants. First, models were either trained traditionally with data from elbows at 90° position, with data from 3 limb positions, or trained by few-shot learning (with fewer data from 3 limb positions). Then, transfer learning was employed to pre-train models using data from all other users, with the models subsequently fine-tuned using either traditional or few-shot learning with new end-user data. The resulting five models were evaluated using linear regressor-, Convolutional Neural Network-, and Transformer-based approaches. Interestingly, the transfer learning pre-trained model in conjunction with few-shot fine-tuning achieved the second-highest median $mathbf{R}^{2}$ of 0.76 across all participants. Our findings offer a proof of concept for regression-based myoelectric control of multiple DOFs that may more closely resemble natural limb function.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"1597-1603"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612560","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lucia Angelini, Michele Piazzini, Robinson Guachi, Francesca Toso, Marco Baccini, Francesca Cecchi, Marco Controzzi
{"title":"Enhancing Hand Dexterity Assessment Through Protocol Revision and Pilot Evaluation of the Virtual Eggs Test.","authors":"Lucia Angelini, Michele Piazzini, Robinson Guachi, Francesca Toso, Marco Baccini, Francesca Cecchi, Marco Controzzi","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11063032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hand function assessment enables the therapist to select the proper rehabilitation therapy as well as to monitor the recovery progress. The Virtual Eggs Test (VET) stands out from the other tests for hand dexterity evaluation since evaluates both gross and fine dexterity. This is achieved by integrating measures of accuracy and speed in transporting objects with increasing fragilities. A clinical trial to validate VET was carried out with a population of amputees and a small group of healthy participants, showing promising results. To improve the resolution of the test, here we propose a revised version of the execution protocol without extending the duration. The new version has been preliminary evaluated by seven healthy participants of different ages. The results of this pilot study support test-retest reliability for the original formulation of the Fine Dexterity Index, while suggesting for a revision of the Gross Dexterity Index.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"205-210"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yuhe Chen, Jonathan van Zanten, Michael Wiertlewski, Arno Stienen
{"title":"Exploring Synergy Between Tactile Perception and Arm Usage.","authors":"Yuhe Chen, Jonathan van Zanten, Michael Wiertlewski, Arno Stienen","doi":"10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11062930","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/ICORR66766.2025.11062930","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Stroke causes severe tactile deficiencies which affects motor control when grasping and lifting objects. Understanding the fundamental neural disorders associated with tactile deficits is crucial to developing rehabilitation and treatment plans correspondingly. Earlier studies have studied the dynamics between finger grasping behavior and arm muscle activation in stroke patients. However, the exact neuromuscular synergy of tactile perception and arm usage is left unexplored. Here we designed a comprehensive experiment platform and tested the potential synergy on 12 healthy young adults, serving as a control group to establish a foundation for future studies on stroke patients. The experimental platform consists of a lever arm on which torques can be applied to the subject's arm. The end effector is equipped with a special ultrasonic friction modulation plate that can reduce the apparent friction of the object by up to 63 %, simulating real-world grasping tasks in a controlled setting. The experiments were performed under varying conditions of friction and arm usage. Results indicate significant effects of tactile stimulation on grasping force adaptation ($p<0.05$ in 8 of 12 experimental conditions). In the meantime, arm usage did not show a significant synergy with tactile perception ($p=0.44$ in grasping force adaptation amplitude, and $p=0.73$ in reflex delay). These findings demonstrate that the experimental platform can provide insights into human tactile behaviors, which is critical for studying tactile sensory and motor control synergy. The results will lay the groundwork for future research on underlying pathologies and rehabilitation strategies for stroke patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":73276,"journal":{"name":"IEEE ... International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics : [proceedings]","volume":"2025 ","pages":"320-325"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144612580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}