Faculty Publications
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Item Feasibility study of a 4-DOF cable-driven exosuit for elbow and wrist rehabilitation(Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2025) Alapati, S.; Seth, D.; Nakka, S.; Aoustin, Y.Cable-driven exosuits are emerging as an effective solution for upper limb rehabilitation, offering lightweight, flexible, and customizable assistance. While prior research for upper limb rehabilitation has primarily focused on single-joint actuation or systems with up to 2 degrees of freedom (DOF), the combined actuation of the elbow and wrist, including forearm pronation-supination, within an exosuit remains largely unexplored. Addressing this gap, this study investigates the feasibility of a 4-DOF cable-driven exosuit designed to assist these joints, which are essential for rehabilitation exercises and activities of daily living (ADLs) such as eating and object manipulation. A torque-tension model is developed to establish the relationship between joint torques and cable tensions. An optimization framework is implemented to determine optimal tension values. Motion capture data from six healthy subjects performing rehabilitation and daily tasks are used to analyze tension variations and validate the model. The results confirm that the proposed exosuit can provide effective assistance for the elbow and wrist while maintaining cable tensions optimized between 5 N to 50 N for ADLs. Furthermore, workspace analysis confirms that the exosuit maintains 100% feasibility across the rehabilitation range of motion. These insights lay the groundwork for an adaptive, personalized exosuit capable of assisting multi-DOF upper limb movements. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2025.Item Effect of trunk angle on lower limb joint moment in different strategies of sit-to-stand-to-sit motion with healthy subjects(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Suman, S.K.; Verma, K.Patients with lower limb impairments often face sit-to-stand-to-sit motion challenges. The patients utilize a greater trunk flexion angle at seat-off time to mitigate knee moment. Alternative methods of STSTS motion strategies are required to study and understand the various patterns to guide physical rehabilitation programs in clinical practice. Four different STSTS strategies—Natural, Full Flexion, Pelvis-spine alignment, and Frame-Assisted—were experimented with twenty healthy subjects in a 3D motion capture lab, and inverse kinematics and dynamics methods were used for motion analysis in Visual 3D. At seat-off time in full flexion, the maximum trunk flexion angle is 58.77(± 17.92) degrees, duration is 1.63 s, 27% of the cycle, which reduces knee moment by -0.466(± 0.2) N.m/kg, increased hip moment by 0.67(± 0.312) N.m/kg, and ankle moment by 0.225(± 0.09) N.m/kg for the compensation. The compensatory movement also occurred while sitting down. Frame-assisted STSTS motion reduced knee moments without increases in hip and ankle moments at the maximum of trunk flexion angle while standing and sitting, and its motion patterns are similar to pelvis-spine alignment and natural strategies. These findings provide valuable insights for physiotherapists to predict the current stage of the patient for clinical assessment and guide in the design and development of medical devices. © International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering 2025.Item A novel mechanism to support the sit-to-stand and squat-to-stand physical training for rehabilitation purposes(Springer Nature, 2025) Suman, S.K.; Verma, K.In patients with neurological impairment, muscles become stiff, and the joint range of motion (ROM) is restricted. Physical rehabilitation training is required if they cannot perform tasks like sit-to-stand motion. The existing devices support the trunk with limited degrees of freedom (DOF) and fixed shank pad support that arrests ankle, knee, and hip joint ROM and its associated muscle activations. The manual transfer increases falls and the risk of lower back injury. This study proposes a mechanism that supports the shank and trunk by moving assistance in joint ROM. Natural sit-to-stand (STS) and squat-to-stand motion experiments were conducted in the motion capture system with twenty healthy participants. For Inverse kinematic and motion event/phases analysis, Visual 3D biomechanics software was used. From inverse kinematics, trunk & shank angle, velocity, and hip joint position were calculated. A 3-DOF mechanism design consisting of 13 links and 17 joints is proposed based on the inverse kinematics analysis of squat-to-stand movements that accommodate the STS joint ROM. A CAD model of the mechanism is created and imported into Simscape Multibody Dynamic (MATLAB 2023b) software for simulation. Simulated angular velocity and displacement of the trunk and shank compared with experimental data. The proposed mechanism facilitates physical rehabilitation training and reduces the physical burden on caregivers, nurses, and physiotherapists. The 3-DOF assisting trunk support provides coordination with the lower limb to follow the natural path. It includes toileting facility transfer due to its motion up to squat position. Safe transfer from hospital beds to wheelchairs. © The Author(s) 2025.