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 ")

Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'

Octopus Suckers Inspire Transdermal Patches
'...a capsule which he placed against his wrist.' - Philip K. Dick, 1960.

'Droplet' Battery Microscale Power Pack
'...a power pack the size of a pea.' - Alfred Bester, 1956.

Who Needs Asimov's 'Proteus' When You Can Have Pangolins?
'The Proteus was still falling, still shrinking...' - Isaac Asimov, 1966.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

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

Wearable Energy Harvester
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'

Drones Participate In Buddhist Rites
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'

Anna Indiana AI Singer-Songwriter
'She is a personality-construct, a congeries of software agents'

Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix
'The program raced up the screen one scan line at a time'

'Feel the AGI' OpenAI Leader Now OpenWorship
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'

NASA Tests Prototype Europa Lander
Why have legs if they don't walk around?

Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR
'...it was so easy for me to remain motionless in midair.'

Forward CarePod The AI Doctor's Office
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'

Mika The Robot-Boss
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'

Yamaha Motoroid 2 No Handlebars Self-Balancing Motorcycle
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'

San Francisco Autobus
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street...'

Should Your Car Decide If You Can Drive?
'Okay. Maybe the car was right...'

Lucid Dreams On Demand From Prophetic and Card79
'the peeper did not operate by virtue of its machinery alone, but by the reaction of the brain and the body of its user...'

Honda UNI-ONE Hands-Free Wheelchair Follows 100 Year-Old Design
'Noiselessly, on rubber-tired wheels, they journeyed...'

EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
'McKie held a chalf-memory stick over the dusted surface.'

Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
'...tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.