Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
AKROD v2 - Active Knee Rehabilitation Device Human Trials
Human trials of the Active Knee Rehabilitation Device (AKROD v2), a programmable, portable robotic knee brace, will begin soon at Boston’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The device was developed at the Robotics and Mechatronics Laboratory of Northeastern University and was invented
by Professor Constantinos Mavroidis and his associates Brian Weinberg and Jason Nikitczuk. It is hoped that the device will significantly help the hundreds of thousands of stroke victims by providing rehab as a part of their daily lives - not just in the hospital setting.
(AKROD on the treadmill)
"Applying robotics and mechatronics capabilities to a conventional knee brace could significantly improve the gait retraining process for stroke survivors, as they can use it independently while performing everyday activities," says Professor Mavroidis. "The most important challenges we want to meet ultimately are adding real-time adjustment capabilities to the device and making it portable with adequate joint-manipulating capabilities. We added the actuators filled with ‘smart fluid’ to the lightweight brace to get closer to accomplishing these goals."
(AKROD Electro-Rheological Fluid Joint Detail)
A container on one side of the brace is filled with "smart fluid," (electro-rheological fluid); a number of concentric cylinders tightly fit one inside the other leaving only a small gap in between them. When computer-controlled electric voltage is applied to the cylinders, the liquid inside the gap turns solid in less than a millisecond, creating resistance on a healing joint with the turn of a dial. The computer offers real-time modification for gait retraining.
This remarkable device is almost an anti-endoskeleton (or anti-powered suit), in that it deliberately provides programmed and calibrateed resistance to specific movements rather than amplifying them, so the human's muscles can regain strength.
Fluids that change their properties when a current or magnetic field are being used in many different applications; see Liquid Armor In Two Flavors: Shear Thickening and Magnetorheological for another use.
Finally, when asked about science and science fiction, Prof. Mavroidis replied "To tell you the truth I am not a science fiction fan. However, I believe in science fiction as a way to 'think big', to get out of the ordinary so that you get all the new and great ideas that you can use in science. I believe that without science fiction we cannot have big inventions."
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/12/2005)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 9 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.' - Robert Heinlein, 1956
Brainoware Reservoir Computation Of Biological Neural Networks
'Head cheese. Cultured brains on a slab.' - Peter Watts, 1999.
Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Cognify - A Prison Of The Mind We've Seen Before In SF
'So I serve a hundred years in one day...'
Robot With Human Brain Organoid - 'A Thrilling Story Of Mechanistic Progress'
'A human brain snugly encased in a transparent skull-shaped receptacle.'
Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security
'The actuating mechanism that should have operated by the imprint of her image on the telephoto cell...'
With Mycotecture, We'll Just Grow The Space Habitats We Need
'The only real cost was in the plastic balloon that guided the growth of the coral and enclosed the coral's special air-borne food.'
Can A Swarm Of Deadly Drones Take Out An Aircraft Carrier?
'The border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
WiFi and AI Team Up To See Through Walls
'The pitiless M rays pierced Earth and steel and densest concrete as if they were so much transparent glass...'
Climate Engineering In California Could Make Europe's Heat Waves Worse
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
Optimus Robot Will Be A Good Nanny, Says Musk
'Nanny is different,' Tom Fields murmured... 'she's not like a machine. She's like a person.'
ESA To Build Moon Bases Brick By Printed LEGO Brick
'We made a crude , small cell and were delighted - and, I admit, somewhat surprised - to find it worked.'
Does The Shortage Of Human Inputs Limit AI Development?
'...we've promised him a generous pension from the royalties.'
Textiles That Harvest Energy And Store It
'The clothes and jewelery drew their tiny power requirements from her movements.'
LORIS Passive-Gripper Climbing Robot
'At the end of each appendage's eight fingers there are tinier appendages...'
Neuroplatform Human Brain Organoid Bioprocessor Uses Less Electricity
'Cultured brains on a slab.'
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Coin-Sized Nuclear Battery Good For 100 Years
'...power pack the size of a pea.'
Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses
'...the bug-eyed, opaque gape of her True-Vu lenses.'
