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Funded Ph.D. assistantship for the Fall of 2023 at theUniversity of Nebraska, Omaha (UNO), United States.
Degree offered: Ph.D. in Biomechanics and Kinesiology. The assistantship is research-based. For further information, visit the Biomechanics program website.
Project: Conventional passive ankle foot orthoses (AFOs), whose designs have not undergone substantial advances or made impactful functional improvements in decades, do not meet the needs and wants of many stakeholders, particularly those that are the most active. Our goal is to produce the first comfortable and inconspicuous powered AFO for children with cerebral palsy (CP), called the DE-AFO. The DE-AFO will use artificial muscles to actively assist ankle muscles to substantially improve ankle motion, increase walking distance and improve efficiency, leading to better mobility and social integration. Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neurological disorder in the pediatric population. The standard of care for ankle control dysfunction associated with CP, however, is an unmechanized, bulky, and uncomfortable L-shaped conventional AFO. These passive orthoses constrain the ankle's motion and consequently often cause disuse atrophy of muscles, skin damage, and adverse neural adaptations. Alternatively, powered orthoses may promote natural ankle motion; however, due to the use of conventional actuators, e.g., DC motors, they are also bulky, heavy, noisy, and rigid. The DE-AFO is a biomimetic robot that uses artificial muscles to assist ankle function in the sagittal and frontal planes. It will use a gait phase detection controller to drive the artificial muscles in synchrony during gait to mimic natural ankle muscle function. The DE-AFO will be the first AFO powered by electro-active polymer artificial muscles. These muscles are lightweight, compact, soft, noiseless, and contract longitudinally, which improves upon heavy and conspicuous designs of existing actuated AFOs. These features improve the natural feel and, thus, the comfort and acceptability of the device. The aim of this study is to improve upon the current prototype of the DE-AFO to provide simultaneous active ankle plantarflexion/dorsiflexion, inversion/eversion, and to control mediolateral stiffness.
For further detail, please visit www.Elasthetics.com.
Responsibilities:
1) To test DE-AFO's performance of the DE-AFO on an instrumented phantom ankle model.
2) To analyze the testing results and improve the DE-AFO’s prototype.
3) To evaluate the DE-AFO performance on human subjects.
Minimum Qualifications:
Experience in microcontroller programmings such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
Proficiency in CAD.
Preferred Qualification:
Familiarities with 1) Prosthetics and Orthotics; 2) LabVIEW; 3) Finite Element Analysis.
How to Apply:
Please apply electronically here at UNO's website.
Send a copy of your CV directly to the primary investigator: Ahad Behboodi <ahad.behboodi@NIH.gov>.
Degree offered: Ph.D. in Biomechanics and Kinesiology. The assistantship is research-based. For further information, visit the Biomechanics program website.
Project: Conventional passive ankle foot orthoses (AFOs), whose designs have not undergone substantial advances or made impactful functional improvements in decades, do not meet the needs and wants of many stakeholders, particularly those that are the most active. Our goal is to produce the first comfortable and inconspicuous powered AFO for children with cerebral palsy (CP), called the DE-AFO. The DE-AFO will use artificial muscles to actively assist ankle muscles to substantially improve ankle motion, increase walking distance and improve efficiency, leading to better mobility and social integration. Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common neurological disorder in the pediatric population. The standard of care for ankle control dysfunction associated with CP, however, is an unmechanized, bulky, and uncomfortable L-shaped conventional AFO. These passive orthoses constrain the ankle's motion and consequently often cause disuse atrophy of muscles, skin damage, and adverse neural adaptations. Alternatively, powered orthoses may promote natural ankle motion; however, due to the use of conventional actuators, e.g., DC motors, they are also bulky, heavy, noisy, and rigid. The DE-AFO is a biomimetic robot that uses artificial muscles to assist ankle function in the sagittal and frontal planes. It will use a gait phase detection controller to drive the artificial muscles in synchrony during gait to mimic natural ankle muscle function. The DE-AFO will be the first AFO powered by electro-active polymer artificial muscles. These muscles are lightweight, compact, soft, noiseless, and contract longitudinally, which improves upon heavy and conspicuous designs of existing actuated AFOs. These features improve the natural feel and, thus, the comfort and acceptability of the device. The aim of this study is to improve upon the current prototype of the DE-AFO to provide simultaneous active ankle plantarflexion/dorsiflexion, inversion/eversion, and to control mediolateral stiffness.
For further detail, please visit www.Elasthetics.com.
Responsibilities:
1) To test DE-AFO's performance of the DE-AFO on an instrumented phantom ankle model.
2) To analyze the testing results and improve the DE-AFO’s prototype.
3) To evaluate the DE-AFO performance on human subjects.
Minimum Qualifications:
Experience in microcontroller programmings such as Arduino or Raspberry Pi.
Proficiency in CAD.
Preferred Qualification:
Familiarities with 1) Prosthetics and Orthotics; 2) LabVIEW; 3) Finite Element Analysis.
How to Apply:
Please apply electronically here at UNO's website.
Send a copy of your CV directly to the primary investigator: Ahad Behboodi <ahad.behboodi@NIH.gov>.