Robot-aided Somatosensory-based Approaches for the Neurorehabilitation of Sensorimotor Function
Half-day workshop at the IEEE RAS EMBS 10th International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics - BioRob 2024
📆 September 1-4, 2024
📌 Heidelberg, Germany
This workshop aims to delineate the challenges and opportunities of somatosensory-based robotic rehabilitation therapies that aim to improve sensorimotor function. A primary objective of physical rehabilitation is to restore function after nervous system injury or to preserve it in neurodegenerative disease. While it is known that somatosensory information from the body's periphery is essential for intact motor function, the processing of somatosensory signals is frequently compromised following acute brain or spinal cord injuries, or due to neurodegenerative disease.
Altered processing of proprioceptive or tactile signals, hinders the relearning of fundamental motor functions such as the control of balance, walking, and reaching and grasping. This poses a significant obstacle to neurorehabilitation. Consequently, the restoration of motor function is more challenging when patients also experience somatosensory dysfunction. Although it is generally agreed upon that added or augmented sensory feedback can be beneficial for motor (re-)learning, the way to provide it most effectively in rehabilitation is still debated.
The theme of this workshop concerns robotic devices that aim to support and enhance motor learning based on somatosensory inputs. Moreover, bidirectional human-machine interfaces that convey commands to the system as well as feedback to the user have immense potential to contribute to the restoration of functional independence across a broad spectrum of motor disabilities. Finally, the capacity of such technologies to amplify residual sensations or serve as substitutes for lost tactile and proprioceptive sense offers an additional avenue for improving the outcomes of rehabilitation therapy.
Program
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14:00-14:10 |
Introduction |
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14:10–16:00 |
Lectures |
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14:10-14:30 |
Strahinja Dosen Talk title: Toward high-bandwidth bidirectional human-machine interfacing for robotic neurorehabilitation |
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14:30-14:50 |
Marcia O’Malley Talk title: Neuromodulation and Robotics for Upper Limb Rehabilitation and Movement Assistance |
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14:50-15:10 |
Jürgen Konczak Talk title: Using Robotics to Assess and Link Proprioceptive and Motor Dysfunction in Neurological Disease |
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15:10-15:20 |
Break |
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15:20-15:40 |
Leonardo Cappello Talk title: Sensory-based Restoration of Hand Motor Function: Perspectives and Challenges |
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15:40-16:00 |
Max Ortiz-Catalan Talk title: Highly integrated bionic limbs and neurorehabilitation of pain |
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16:00-16:10 |
Break |
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16:10-16:25 |
Fast Presentations |
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16:25-17:20 |
Live Demos and Posters |
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17:20-17:50 |
Panel Session |
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17:50-18:00 |
Final Remarks |
Speakers
Strahinja Dosen
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Strahinja Dosen received the Diploma of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and the M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering in 2000 and 2004, respectively, from the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and the Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, in 2008. From 2011 to 2017, he worked as a Research Scientist at the Institute for Neurorehabilitation Systems, University Medical Center Gottingen, Germany, and then as an Associate Professor at the Department of Health Science and Technology (HST), Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark. Currently, he is a Full Professor in Rehab Robotics at the same Department where he leads a research group on Neurorehabilitation Systems. Prof. Dosen was a principal investigator for AAU and HST in several EU (Tactility, Wearplex, Sixthsense, and SimBionics) and nationally (Robin, Remap, and Climb) funded projects. He has published more than 100 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. His main research interest is in the closed-loop control of movements and assistive systems, including human-machine interfacing, control of bionic limbs and rehabilitation robotics, artificial sensory feedback, haptics, and functional electrical stimulation. |
Jürgen Konczak
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Jürgen Konczak is a Full Professor in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota. He is the head of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory and also serves as director of a university-wide Center for Clinical Movement Science that includes over 30 faculty from the allied health, clinical, engineering and movement sciences. Dr. Konczak’s research focuses on the neurophysiology and biomechanics of human motor function in clinical and special populations. He has published extensively in the area of neuromotor control, motor development and motor dysfunction due to neurological diseases such as ataxia, Parkinson's disease and dystonia. His research has been funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the German Science Foundation and the European Commission. |
Max Ortiz Catalán
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Professor Max Ortiz Catalán’s mission is to develop and clinically implement technologies to eliminate disability and pain due to sensorimotor impairment. He has created several biomedical innovations, including the first bionic limb anchored to the skeleton with long-term stable neural control and sensory feedback used in daily life, as well as novel treatments for neuropathic pain that are currently used worldwide. Professor Ortiz Catalán is also the founder of the Center for Bionics and Pain Research (CBPR) in Sweden. He is regarded as a world leader in prosthetics and phantom limb pain. A prominent scientist who has authored over 100 scientific publications, including articles in prestigious journals such as the Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, and others in the Nature and Science families, Professor Ortiz Catalán is the first or last author in over 80% of his publications, indicating his direct involvement in the published work. Professor Ortiz Catalán has received several international awards for innovation and scientific relevance; been the keynote speaker at the leading conferences in his field and guest speaker at over 100 international conferences and universities worldwide. Several documentaries and over 100 popular science articles in over a dozen languages have featured his work. |
Marcia O'Malley
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Marcia O'Malley is the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rice University. Her research concerns "systems for enhancing the human sensorimotor control system", including work on exoskeletons, neuroprosthetics, haptic technology, and brain-computer interfaces. O'Malley was named an ASME Fellow in 2014. In 2019 she was named an IEEE Fellow "for contributions to rehabilitation robotics and haptic systems", and in 2022 she was named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering for her "outstanding contributions to rehabilitation robotics, haptics and robotic surgery". In 2019, Purdue University gave her their Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award. In 2020 she was named the ASME Dynamic Systems and Controls Division Nyquist Lecturer. |
Leonardo Cappello
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Leonardo Cappello is a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor at the BioRobotics Institute - Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSA), Italy, where he founded the Textile Robotics Lab and where he works on the design of textile-based robotic wearables for human sensorimotor restoration and augmentation. His research interests include haptics, assistive and rehabilitation robotics, wearable technologies, prosthetics and orthotics, and motor neurosciences. He was recently awarded with the European Research Council Starting Grant (ERC StG) for the project MUsculoSkeletal Expansion (MUSE). |
Fast Presentations
Fast presentations consist of a 3-minutes presentation and a poster session, covering recently published research, ongoing work with preliminary results, or demonstrations. Prizes will be awarded, with $300 for the best fast presentation and $100 each for the best fast presentation finalists (2nd and 3rd classified). The awards will be granted by a dedicated committee, including the organizers and the two invited speakers.
Submissions for fast presentations should include an extended abstract of a maximum of 2 pages in IEEE Conference paper format and a single-slide teaser.
📤 To submit your work, click here: submission link
📄 The template for the IEEE Conference paper is available at this link.
📟 The template for the single-slide teaser is available at this link.
The deadline for fast presentation submissions is July 1 July 31, 2024. If you have additional questions, please contact: leonardo.cappello@santannapisa.it
Organizers
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Leonardo Cappello |
Jürgen Konczak |
Strahinja Dosen |
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Assistant Professor, BioRobotics Institute, Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy
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Professor, School of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA
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Professor, Neurorehabilitation Systems, Aalborg University, Denmark
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Sponsor
We acknowledge and thank ReWing s.r.l. for their support to this workshop.
ReWing endorses the efforts brought forward by Dr. Cappello, Prof. Dosen and Prof. Konczak towards the proposed workshop on “Robot-aided Somatosensory-based Approaches for the Neurorehabilitation of Sensorimotor Function” at the BioRob 2024 Conference. We wish to support these activities in the form of a monetary prize for the best student long-abstract contributions, hoping that this would attract more and high-quality submissions.