Passive Elbow Joint Impedance Identification with the use of an Elbow Device

Passive Elbow Joint Impedance Identification with the use of an Elbow Device

Papa, Kyriacos (TU Delft Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering)

Filius, S.J. (mentor)
Harlaar, J. (mentor)
Radaelli, G. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology

Biomedical Engineering

2023-08-22

Neuromuscular diseases often result in elevated passive joint impedance (PJI), impacting the daily lives of affected individuals. To be able to apply assistive devices that compensate for PJI, it is essential to identify the PJI correctly. This study aims to identify and model the PJI of the elbow joint, to improve the control of force-based controlled active-assistance exoskeleton devices by distinguishing the voluntary from the passive forces. We used an elbow device to measure the PJI in twelve healthy males with the shoulder abducted at a 90˚ angle. The study investigates both static and dynamic conditions, encompassing various contraction velocities (≤ 0.20 rad/s) and shoulder flexion positions (0˚ and ±45˚). The analysis estimates the hysteresis, equilibrium position, and elastic property. Subsequently, based on the average elbow PJI, we developed a regression model, with the statistical analysis revealing no significant differences between the conditions, except for the observed hysteresis under varying velocities. Based on the tested conditions, the findings indicate that a single low-velocity dynamic measurement can serve as the basis for deriving a general elbow PJI regression model.

Stiffness
Passive Joint Impedance
Elastic Property
Elastic Response
Hysteresis
Elbow Joint
Upper Extremities
Duchenne
Becker
Muscular Dystrophy
Neuromuscular Diseases
Assistive Devices

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:1f6e5d56-66e1-4cea-b626-266c9aded162

2024-08-31

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Kyriacos Papa