Harmonic Bionics, the robotics company for augmenting human movement, announces that the University of Houston (UH) has purchased and received a Harmony SHR exoskeleton to be used in research being conducted by Dr. Jinsook Roh, assistant professor of Biomedical Engineering at UH, and her team at the Rehabilitation Engineering for Improving Neuromotor control (REIGN) Lab.
Dr. Roh is a 2022 National Science Foundation CAREER award recipient, and her research focuses on the neural mechanisms of motor coordination in able-bodied and neurologically impaired individuals.
With an anatomically matched shoulder and bilateral design, Harmony SHR can facilitate a more natural range of motion with multi-plane movements. The system’s actuation and control allow for differentially adjusting assistance/resistance at each joint with precise motion and effort sensing for objective assessment of joint angle and force generation.
“Through conducting basic neuroscientific studies on the mechanisms of neuromuscular coordination, we want to quantify movement quality to help design more effective therapy programs,” said Dr. Roh. “Other upper extremity robots we have used in movement science only allow researchers to analyze arm movement along one plane of motion, but Harmony SHR provides a more complete, 3D view of the shoulder. And with all the data Harmony can provide, we want to create a multi-modal, automated assessment of motor impairment after stroke.”
“We know that Harmony’s unique design opens up more research capabilities and we’re excited to see what a world-renowned researcher like Dr. Roh and her team at the University of Houston can accomplish,” said Harmonic Bionics CEO Christopher Prentice. “Our mission is to create enabling technology that improves patient outcomes through data-driven rehabilitation practices, and Dr. Roh and UH are great partners to help us advance toward achieving this goal.”
[Source(s): Harmonic Bionics, PR Newswire]
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