Assistive Technology Center for Daily Life Activities

• Grant number: 24/01120-4
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Science Centers for Development
• Duration: July 01, 2024 - June 30, 2029
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering - Medical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Arturo Forner Cordero
• Grantee: Arturo Forner Cordero
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Adriano Almeida Gonçalves Siqueira ; André Tadeu Sugawara ; Larissa Driemeier
• Associated researchers: Alessandro Guimarães ; Bruno de Carvalho Albertini ; Douglas Bellomo Cavalcante ; Fabio Rogerio Lins Pereira de Souza ; Glauco Augusto de Paula Caurin ; Henrique Takachi Moriya ; Linamara Rizzo Battistella ; Maria Aparecida Barbosa Pereira Valença ; Marta Imamura ; Mauro Kendi Noda ; Rafael Traldi Moura ; Ricardo Cury Ibrahim ; Rodrigo Lima Stoeterau ; Vinicius Delgado Ramos

Abstract

The project of the Assistive Technology Center for Daily Living Activities aims to provide solutions to restore or maintain personal mobility for people with disabilities or motor limitations, caused by issues such as spinal cord injury, stroke, diseases like Parkinson's, or aging. The project is a multidisciplinary and multimodal initiative, based on the joint work experience of different units of the University of São Paulo, along with new strategic partners, such as IMREA and IPT. The project aims to overcome challenges of high cost and lack of adaptation of assistive technologies to the specific needs of users, following the principles of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The project focuses on mobility, as an essential factor for quality of life, well-being, and social inclusion. For this, solutions based on wheelchairs and lower limb exoskeletons will be developed, which can be personalized and adjusted according to the demands of the users. The project also includes creating a sensor network to monitor posture, movement, and user interaction with the environment, providing information for treatment and prevention of complications. In addition, the project involves evaluating, standardizing, and normalizing assistive devices to assist ANVISA and ABNT in regulating these technologies. The project also seeks to produce the necessary analyses to subsidize the incorporation process of new technologies and the development of clinical protocols and therapeutic guidelines, following the criteria of health technology assessment.Considering the need to provide the Brazilian population with quality assistive products and services at a reasonable cost to the health system, the proposal is to conceive devices that are compatible and modular.Modularity involves defining a basic system, on which modules can be added depending on the users' needs, accompanying them during the rehabilitation process and supporting their social inclusion. We can think, for example, of a wheelchair or an exoskeleton for children that can, through this modularity, keep up with part of their growth. In another example, the same wheelchair that can be adapted for different uses: outdoors, indoors, or in sports activities. From the point of view of exoskeletons, for example, the modules could consist of different joints with different actuators and sensors depending on the user's needs. Modularity allows the necessary customization to meet user needs and cost reduction, if another ingredient is included: compatibility.With the aim of allowing different modules to be integrated, it will be necessary to define mechanical and electronic compatibility requirements for the wheelchair and lower limb exoskeleton. Indeed, the use of the exoskeleton should be compatible with the use of the wheelchair, offering the user the autonomy of the wheelchair with the possibility of standing and walking with the exoskeleton. Moreover, the possibility of creating a compatibility standard to incorporate modules allows the entry into the market of different companies capable of manufacturing them.For example, if we manage to define a structure for the wheelchair with a series of material, mechanical, and dimensional requirements to attach compatible backrests and seats, there will be a large group of companies capable of manufacturing these modules with a consequent cost reduction. Similarly, if we define an electronic bus standard to connect sensors and actuators in the wheelchair and exoskeleton, it will be possible to incorporate modularity and, at the same time, reduce the final product cost. (AU)