2023-12-14 13:59:01
di Ruggiero Corcela
This is proven by research conducted by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and EPFL of Lausanne. New perspectives are now opening up for developing assistive devices for people with disabilities, or rehabilitation protocols after a stroke
In the promising field of research into human-machine interfaces, be they robots or even simple computers, extra robotic arms (XRAs) are gaining interest in neuroscience and robotics, offering potential tools for everyday tasks. However, this compelling opportunity poses new challenges for sensorimotor control strategies and human-machine interfaces (HMI).
Now a study published in the international journal Science Robotics demonstrates how breathing (and even vision) can be used to control a wearable robotic arm in healthy individuals, without hindering the control of other parts of the body.
I study
The research, coordinated by Silvestro Micera, professor of Bioelectronics and Neural Engineering at the EPFL in Lausanne and the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, demonstrated how the movement of the diaphragm can be monitored to successfully control an additional arm, increasing essentially the capabilities of a healthy individual with a third robotic arm. The study is part of the progetto Third-Armpreviously funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (NCCR Robotics), which aims to provide a wearable robotic arm for everyday assistance, especially in the workplace.
Micera believes that exploring the cognitive limits of third arm control may actually foster a better understanding of the human brain. The main motivation for this study is to understand the nervous system – explains Silvestro Micera -. If you challenge your brain to do something completely new, you can learn whether your brain can do it. We can then transfer this knowledge to develop, for example, assistive devices for people with disabilities, or rehabilitation protocols after a stroke.
Regain sensory and movement functions
In its research path, Micera has developed advanced technological solutions to help people regain sensory and motor functions lost due to traumatic events or neurological disorders. Until now he had never dealt with improving the human body and cognition with the help of technology.
We want to understand whether our brain is programmed to control what nature has given us, and we have shown that the human brain can adapt to coordinate new limbs in tandem with biological ones, explains Solaiman Shokur, co-PI of the study and Senior Scientist of the EPFL at the Neuro-X Institute.
It’s about acquiring new motor functions, strengthening the existing ones of a given person, whether they have some disability or not. From a nervous system perspective, it is a continuum between rehabilitation and enhancement.
Use in a virtual environment
To explore the cognitive limits of augmentation, the researchers first built a virtual environment to test a healthy user’s ability to control a virtual arm with diaphragm movement. They found that diaphragm control did not interfere with actions such as arm control, speech or gaze. In this virtual reality setup, the user is equipped with a belt that measures the movement of the diaphragm. Wearing a virtual reality headset, the user sees three arms: the right arm and hand, the left arm and hand, and a third arm between the two with a symmetrical six-fingered hand.
We made this hand symmetrical to avoid any bias towards the right or left hand, explains Giulia Dominijanni, PhD student at EPFL’s Neuro-X Institute and first author of the study. The control of the diaphragm of the third arm is actually very intuitive and those who participated in the trial learned to control the additional limb very quickly. Furthermore, our control strategy is inherently independent of biological limbs and does not affect the user’s ability to control their body.
Our next step will be to explore the use of more complex robotic devices, using our different control strategies, to perform real tasks, both inside and outside the laboratory. Only then will we be able to grasp the true potential of this study concludes Silvestro Micera.
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December 14, 2023 (modified December 14, 2023 | 12:03)
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