Project ARM



=Problem Definition=

Individuals recovering from post-stroke arm impairments spend significantly more time conducting therapeutic exercise at home without therapist supervision than they spend doing supervised therapy in a clinical setting. It is difficult to quantify the amount and quality of arm usage that takes place between supervised therapy sessions, which would be useful to know both as an indicator of functional recovery, and also as a way to monitor activity level and its impact on motor recovery.

=Motivation=


 * About 795,000 people suffer from strokes in the United States each year
 * Strokes are the leading cause of serious, long term disability
 * Quantifying the amount and quality of arm movement during recovery will benefit patients and clinicians

=General Goals=
 * To develop an Android application that will monitor and track mobility parameters of arm movements
 * Mobility parameters include the range of motion, and the number of completed repetitions of Doctor prescribed arm movements
 * To update the existing wearable interface with a new harness design and sturdy hardware cases used to protect the existing sensor components

=Current Project Direction=
 * To develop a comfortable and breathable device to be worn by a patient
 * To enable a user to don/doff the wearable interface in under 30 seconds
 * To obtain angle readings from the sensors within a range of 5% accuracy, and display this data to the Android app

=Future Goals and Direction for Device=
 * To allow the device to be used for both the right and left arms
 * To allow patients the ability to use the device at home during normal activities
 * To allow patients to be able to don/doff with one arm
 * To increase the sensor's stability and accuracy of readings
 * To complete a user-friendly application to follow progress of prescribed exercise routines

=Project Learning Examples=

Arm Movement Illustration


The human arm has five different types of arm movements. Three for the shoulder: flexion/extension, abduction/adduction, and medial/lateral rotation. Two for the forearm: flexion/extension and supination/pronation.

Possible Algorithm Illustration


This algorithm was used for an EU funded project which utilized two sensors to track arm movements, one on the upper arm and one on the wrist. Data from the sensors is used to calculate the angle of shoulder flexion/extension, elbow flexion/extension, and the z position vector of the forearm which are then used to identify three different movements. The three movements are: reaching for and retrieving an object, lifting an object to the mouth, and rotating an object.

=Design Work Examples=

Back Mounted Hardware Case






Wrist Mounted Hardware Case




Phone App Screens
The intent of the application design was to create a very simple user interface for a Physical Therapist and his/her Patient.


 * The Doctor will be able to assign tasks, track progress, and watch the patient improve in real-time. This will allow for a unique exercise plan for every patient, every day.


 * The Patient will, similarly, be able to see exact exercises along with the amount of repetitions recommended by the Doctor, track his/her progress, and comment on any pain points/successes/questions that he/she may have during these exercises.

Data Collection



 * Data will be used in the assessment of how well a patient performed an exercise.
 * It will be collected from three different sensors in hardware.
 * Shoulder Sensor
 * Wrist Sensor
 * Reference Sensor
 * Data collection shall occur in cycles, with each sensor broadcasting its data at a time relative to the other sensors.




 * ‘Number Lines’ will be used in the analysis of the collected data
 * Example: If there are thirty (30) data points cycles recorded by the hardware, and ten (10) points on the ‘Number Line,’ then each point on the ‘Number Line’ will contain the average of three (3) of those thirty (30) collected data points.
 * Example: (23.54 + 27.82 + 31.91) / 3 = 27.76
 * There shall be two different ‘Number Lines’ used for each axis of each sensor, meaning that a total of eighteen (18) ‘Number Lines’ will be used.
 * Baseline ‘Number Line’
 * This ‘Number Line’ will consist of pre-recorded values to which the values of the ‘collected values’ number line will be compared
 * Collected Value ‘Number Lines’
 * This ‘Number Line’ will consist of averaged data points that will be compared against those contained on the Baseline ‘Number Lines.’

=Work Product Examples=

Hardware Case (Old Version)


3D printed prototype of Assembly Design 1 (Lid Design 1, Base Design 1)

Casing concepts are created with the following parameters in mind:


 * Provides adequate protection for the electrical circuits


 * Provides stabilization for circuit boards to receive accurate data,


 * Can be applied to the brace design.



This case is able to be attached to the “posture” brace via the loops.


 * The adjustment straps go through the loops on the case, providing support and stabilization.

The holes on the corners eliminate the need to pre-drill holes for screw installation.

The inside of the case is able to house the three electrical boards along with a lithium battery.

Future corrections to this basic design could include:


 * The ability to stabilize the boards via “columns” that would contain pre-drilled holes to easily screw the boards to the case.

Harness


The final version of the harness will feature different fabric, and will house the hardware case components.

Phone App
These are screenshots of the current version of the app. Future updates will:


 * Implement data collection and evaluation from the hardware.


 * Implement password reset functionality to the Doctor portion of the app.


 * Add videos for Patients and Doctors to watch to review exercises.


 * Enable 'Help' features.


 * Enable the Doctor to add new/ custom exercises.

=Next Steps=
 * Print all final cases for harness
 * Develop wearable harness with strong, comfortable material
 * Complete wiring of sensors throughout harness
 * Finish application – allowing patient and doctor to benefit from use

=Team Members=

=Additional Documentation=

Project Schedule - Semester 2 (Revised)


= References =