Mobility impairments, particularly those caused by stroke-induced hemiparesis, significantly impact independence and quality of life. Current smart walker controllers operate by using input forces from the user to control linear motion and input torques to dictate rotational movement; however, because they predominantly rely on user-applied torque exerted on the device handle as an indicator of user intent to turn, they fail to adequately accommodate users with unilateral upper limb impairments. This leads to increased physical strain and cognitive load. This paper introduces a novel smart walker equipped with a fuzzy control algorithm that leverages shoulder abduction angles to intuitively interpret user intentions using just one functional hand. By integrating a force sensor and stereo camera, the system enhances walker responsiveness and usability. Experimental evaluations with five participants showed that the fuzzy controller outperformed the traditional admittance controller, reducing wrist torque while using the right hand to operate the walker by 12.65 % for left turns, 80.36 % for straight paths, and 81.16 % for right turns. Additionally, average user comfort ratings on a Likert scale increased from 1 to 4. Results confirmed a strong correlation between shoulder abduction angles and directional intent, with users reporting decreased effort and enhanced ease of use. This study contributes to assistive robotics by providing an adaptable control mechanism for smart walkers, suggesting a pathway towards enhancing mobility and independence for individuals with mobility impairments. Project page: https://tbs-ualberta.github.io/fuzzy-sw/

Gait asymmetry, a consequence of various neurological or physical conditions such as aging and stroke, detrimentally impacts bipedal locomotion, causing biomechanical alterations, increasing the risk of falls and reducing quality of life. Addressing this critical issue, this paper introduces a novel diagnostic method for gait symmetry analysis through the use of an assistive robotic Smart Walker equipped with an innovative asymmetry detection scheme. This method analyzes sensor measurements capturing the interaction torque between user and walker. By applying a seasonal-trend decomposition tool, we isolate gait-specific patterns within these data, allowing for the estimation of stride durations and calculation of a symmetry index. Through experiments involving 5 experimenters, we demonstrate the Smart Walker’s capability in detecting and quantifying gait asymmetry by achieving an accuracy of 84.9% in identifying asymmetric cases in a controlled testing environment. Further analysis explores the classification of these asymmetries based on their underlying causes, providing valuable insights for gait assessment. The results underscore the potential of the device as a precise, ready-to-use monitoring tool for personalized rehabilitation, facilitating targeted interventions for enhanced patient outcomes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the unprecedented workload and cross-infection hazard, the health-care workers’ lives are under a significant threat. However, minimizing the duration and frequency of close clinician-to-patient contacts using simple technologies that enable physical distancing could reduce the risk of spreading the disease. In this context, this paper presents the conceptual design and preliminary assessment of a low-cost and intrinsically safe remote service delivery platform that can assist clinicians in doing various tasks at a safe distance from patients. This mechanism is capable of manipulating objects in three-dimensional Cartesian space and can be adapted to handling a wide variety of medical devices. Moreover, its passive weight-compensating design provides the mechanism with high maneuverability, enhanced dynamic manipulability, and better force feedback quality. The advantages and effectiveness of the proposed mechanism are demonstrated through experiments. In the experiment, an ultrasound probe is mounted at the end effector of the device to perform an imaging task from a safe distance. Due to the existence of the force feedback, the user could remotely manipulate the ultrasound probe for having a successful vertical and pivot scanning to get high-quality images with a low physical and mental demand.

Due to the high sensitivity and complexity of robotic surgery tasks, acquiring appropriate skill levels by trainee surgeons through an effective training process is very important and affects the patient’s safety and the quality of surgical outcomes. With the advanced deep learning technology and the recent availability of surgical procedures data, intelligent methods can be deployed to assess and transfer the skills of an experienced surgeon (mentor) to a novice surgeon (trainee). In this paper, we introduce a novel deep-learning-based skill transfer scheme consisting of a deep convolutional model, SkillNet, and a skill transfer algorithm for robotic surgery training. The proposed SkillNet extracts skill-related features of the mentor from different layers of the network. Then, trainee’s maneuver is enhanced by the proposed skill transfer algorithm while minimizing deviations from the trainee’s original intended trajectory. For validation, the JIGSAWS dataset and also our own experimental data were used to prove the generalizability of SkillNet in capturing skill-related features. The capability of the skill transfer algorithm in enhancing trainee trajectories in terms of predictability, hand tremor reduction, and noise cancellation were investigated separately. The obtained results indicate that this approach can be used as a high-performance filter that makes minor corrections to the input trajectory and improves the skill level of the trainee’s trajectory in practice.