Hybrid robotic and electrical stimulation assistance can enhance performance and reduce mental demand
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Combining functional electrical stimulation (FES) and robotics may enhance recovery after stroke, by providing neural feedback with the former while improv- ing quality of motion and minimizing muscular fatigue with the latter. Here, we explored whether and how FES, robot assistance and their combination, affect users’ per- formance, effort, fatigue and user experience. 15 healthy participants performed a wrist flexion/extension tracking task with FES and/or robotic assistance. Tracking per- formance improved during the hybrid FES-robot and the robot-only assistance conditions in comparison to no assistance, but no improvement is observed when only FES is used. Fatigue, muscular and voluntary effort are estimated from electromyographic recording. Total muscle contraction and volitional activity are lowest with robotic assistance, whereas fatigue level do not change between the conditions. The NASA-Task Load Index answers indi- cate that participants found the task less mentally demand- ing during the hybrid and robot conditions than the FES condition. The addition of robotic assistance to FES train- ing might thus facilitate an increased user engagement compared to robot training and allow longer motor training session than with FES assistance.
Date Issued
2023
Date Acceptance
2023-10-04
Citation
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 2023, 31, pp.4063-4072
ISSN
1534-4320
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Start Page
4063
End Page
4072
Journal / Book Title
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering
Volume
31
Copyright Statement
© 2023 The Authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License URL
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/tnsre.2023.3323370
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2023-10-10