Project description:
The biggest problem in the orthopedic profession is the medical condition known as adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). In this condition, a person’s spinal axis has a three-dimensional deviation from normal, with no cure currently available. The aetiology of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is unknown, but the extensive research results show that the problem can be reduced by decreasing the imbalance of forces along the spine. This motivates us to develop a robotic and wearable exoskeleton (brace) to restore the balance of forces along the spine with the aim of making a major breakthrough in the complementary treatment of AIS patients, which affects 1-3% of the population.
Preliminary work has been done: mechanical design of one steward platform, controller design and control system for one steward platform. The project will extend the preliminary work, and the objectives include:
- develop the designed exoskeleton to three Stewart platform,
- integrate the ultrasound sensors to the robotic system and design a control system,
- validate the proposed control scheme and the mechanism, experiments will be conducted on the designed exoskeleton.
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Xuping Zhang
