For this lab each member of the group will go to the Web and find a new technolo

Question

For this lab each member of the group will go to the Web and find a new technology (first appearing in 2015 or 2016 or 2017) that is helping someone who is disabled. Write 4 paragraph synopsis about "Obi Dining Robot" and how it helped through technology to help disabled persons

Each member should write up a 4 page synopsis of the disability and how the technology mitigates or helps the person with it. Then share it with your group members and the group should decide on what you think is the most interesting technology and write a short reason why you think this technology is the most interesting.

Explanation / Answer

Obi Dining Robot

Technologies don’t come more potentially transformative than Obi, a robotic arm that allows people with physical disabilities(mostly diagnosed with ALS) to feed themselves.Obi is a stylish kitchen appliance and has a simple two-button interface — with one button selecting which food to pick up, and the other controlling a spoon that dips into the food and then moves into the operator’s mouth.

Obi includes a dinner-plate-sized dish with four compartments on top, which mount onto a white platform. Attached to one side of the white platform is a robotic arm fitted with a spoon. Once placed on a table in front of the recipient, a caregiver can grasp the arm and teach Obi the delivery location. After that, the robot is able to replicate the process.

It has a rechargeable battery which can last up to two to four hours. The robotic arm is highly agile; it can scrape the sides of bowls and adjust itself depending on the type, texture and amount of food it picks up, from bigger grapes to finer rice grains.

Obi has portion control settings, interchangeable spoons (both the spoons and the bowls are dishwasher and microwave-safe), and a spill-proof surface for easy cleanup. The robotic arm can also detect collisions and cease its operations until it receives further instructions from the caregiver.

Body-Weight-Supported Treadmill Training

Rehabilitating walking in patients after they have experienced a stroke, with training that is safe, task-specific, intensive, and of sufficient duration, can be challenging. Some of these challenges can be met by using Body-weight-supported treadmill training (BWSTT).

The worldwide prevalence of stroke was estimated to be 33 million by the end of 2010. Stroke is the second-leading global cause of death behind heart disease. The incidence and prevalence of stroke in China are highest in the world. According to a recent epidemiological study on the global burden of stroke, the incidence of stroke in China has increased from 226/100,000 person-years in 1990 to 240/100,000 person-years in 2010. Walking ability and ambulatory independence determine the level of disability and likelihood of institutionalization in patients with hemiplegia. The degree to which gait can be restored after stroke is related to both the initial impairment in walking ability and the severity of lower extremity paresis(partial paralysis). Early intervention with physical therapy to restore walking after stroke was recommended to improve motor function and decrease disability.

Gait(Stride or Bipedal) performance is an indicator of mobility impairment and disability after stroke. It predicts mortality and risk of future stroke. Gait speed is responsive to short-term rehabilitation. The control of gait involves the planning and execution from multiple cortical areas, such as secondary and premotor cortex. Stroke patients often have gait impairment such as decreased gait speed and asymmetrical gait cycle as a result of the cortical reorganization.

Repetitive mass motor task practice had been shown to facilitate neuroplasticity and brain reorganization in stroke patients, resulting in enhanced motor recovery after stroke. Near-infrared spectroscopic imaging and functional MRI have demonstrated treatment-induced changes of brain activation pattern during walking and after gait training. Abnormal gait pattern in stroke patients is characterized by altered kinematic and kinetic parameters of hip, knee, and ankle joint during a gait cycle. Published studies have shown that proximal lower limb control plays a key role in improving gait speed and walking performance after stroke.

Many patients go through BWSTT with the goal of regaining or improving their ability to walk. One method it uses to help them with this goal is training on the body weight-supported treadmill. The harness and treadmill system can be used to provide a safe environment for stepping and gait without the fear of falling. The amount of deweighting can be adjusted so that the client takes anywhere from all of their weight to no weight at all.

Body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) is a task-oriented technique for gait restoration after stroke. BWSTT has the advantage over conventional therapy as it offers higher intensity, more repetitive and task-oriented practice over the same period of time when compared to conventional therapy. Several studies have shown that BWSTT was more effective in gait speed improvement than regular physiotherapy. It has been demonstrated that BWSTT induces changes in corticomotor excitability which lead to improved balance and gait performance with chronic stroke. Recent studies have reported that BWSTT can increase walking endurance in the subacute stage after stroke, but no improvement was reported in balance and 10 m gait speed. To date, there are very few studies that have used gait analysis to show how the improvements in gait parameters come about after BWSTT or conventional therapy. There is still a lack of basic understanding of gait training on human locomotion. Since gait impairments are a result of deficient neuromuscular control, a better understanding of the impact of gait training on lower limb motor pattern is therefore essential. Improvement on individual biomechanical subtasks of walking such as leg swing or balance control is positively associated with walking performance. Based on corticomotor excitability theory and the advantage of BWSTT over CT, it is hypothesized that BWSTT training is superior to CT training in improving kinetic and kinematic gait parameters from the period before to the one after training.

A cross-sectional repeated-measures design was used and patients post-stroke walked in slow walking speed overground and at comparable speeds on the treadmill with 20% and 40% BWS. Kinematic walking characteristics were obtained using a kinematic sensor attached to the lower back. Kinematic walking characteristics were similar during treadmill walking with BWS, compared to walking overground. During treadmill walking, choice of walking speed had a greater impact on kinematic walking characteristics than the proportion of BWS. Faster walking speeds tended to affect the kinematic walking characteristics positively. This implies that in order to train safely and with sufficient intensity and duration, therapists may choose to include BWSTT in walking rehabilitation also for ambulatory patients post-stroke without aggravating gait pattern during training.

BWSTT has similar clinical effects to improve balance and lower extremity function as conventional overground walking training for patients with subacute stroke. BWSTT can significantly improve spatiotemporal parameters with three weeks of training. Improvement in gait pattern is related to the improvement of hip joint motion during walking. It would be clinically beneficial to incorporate hip joint motion training to improve gait pattern, especially for those who are not suitable for treadmill training. The rehabilitation programme for subacute stroke patients should, therefore, incorporate kinematic training of proximal lower limb to facilitate gait recovery.

This training method can be very useful for clients who have active movement but insufficient strength to carry their entire weight on their own. It allows for early activation, standing, and walking - which in turn can improve recovery by increasing strength, maintaining range of motion, and improving confidence.

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