Biomechanics-aware control for robot-assisted physiotherapy
A novel approach to treating shoulder injuries
I. Belli (TU Delft - Human-Robot Interaction)
D.A. Abbink – Promotor (TU Delft - Human-Robot Interaction)
L. Peternel – Copromotor (TU Delft - Human-Robot Interaction)
A. Seth – Copromotor (TU Delft - Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control)
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Abstract
Musculoskeletal injuries are among the leading causes of pain, disability, and loss of independence worldwide. They affect millions of people, with prevalence rising steeply with age. One of the most common musculoskeletal injuries is tears to the shoulder rotator cuff. As these muscle-tendon tissues are anatomically constricted in a very narrow space between the shoulder bones, they are frequently subject to trauma or wear. Treatment of these injuries is both medically and socially pressing: they impair daily activities, limit the ability to work and engage in sports, and generate high personal and healthcare costs. Rehabilitation is essential to recovery, but it is often lengthy and labor-intensive for both physiotherapists (PTs) and patients. Moreover, it is prone to setbacks such as re-injury, since PTs lack quantitative tools to monitor the evolution of complex musculoskeletal structures during therapy.
In this context, the adoption of robotic devices offers opportunities to support manual manipulation of patients and provide sophisticated sensors to monitor them. Yet, despite advances in robot design and control, current systems remain unaware of the patient’s underlying biomechanics, and therefore cannot monitor or prevent harmful loading of healing tissues.
This thesis addresses such critical lack of knowledge by embedding state-of-the-art musculoskeletal models into the control of rehabilitation robots. Through the development of novel algorithms, it enables real-time estimation of deep muscle activity and tendon strain in the shoulder during physical human-robot interaction. By spanning from improved biomechanical simulations to their integration in robotic therapy execution, this work significantly advances the current state of the art to form a cohesive framework for biomechanics-aware robotic physiotherapy.