Dr. Jousse Lecture Series
Welcome to the new Dr. Albin T Jousse Lecture Series in collaboration with Best Practice Forum, which is sponsored by the Rehabilitation Engineering Laboratory, the Spinal Cord Rehab Program, the Neural Engineering and Therapeutics Team, and Toronto Rehab.
The purpose of this lecture series is to provide a venue for scientists, physicians and clinicians working in rehab settings as well as students, consumers and their caregivers to share knowledge, present the latest research findings and participate in a dialogue on what it means to live with disability. The lectures will be 45 minute long followed by 15 minutes of questions.
Coordinator of the Dr. Albin T. Jousse Lecture Series is Dr. Kristin Musselman . If you have any comments, concerns or would like to present please send us an email at kristin.musselman@uhn.ca.
The series is currently in its 11th season.
- This lecture has passed.
Dr. Arash Arami – Personalized Assistive Robotics: Modelling Human Neuromechanics For Personalization
May 9, 2019 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Abstract
Human locomotion results from a complex interaction between the central nervous system, sensory and musculoskeletal systems. The force generated, reflexes and programmable viscoelasticity of our muscles play an essential role in obtaining a stable and smooth interaction with the environment during locomotion. Devastating neurological conditions such as stroke and spinal cord injury affect millions of individuals annually, alter their neuromechanical control of motion and impede their mobility. The effect of these conditions on the walking control is not well understood, but observed to be different across individuals. My goal is to design personalized assistive robotics systems as well as gait training and rehabilitation programs tailored to the altered neuromechanics of each individual to improve their motor function and quality of life.
The first part of my presentation describes the techniques I developed for movement analysis based on implantable and wearable sensors, which can be used for motor assessment and outcome evaluation of assistive devices. I will then present my recent research to identify and model the neuromechanics of healthy and SCI subjects including joint mechanical impedance and spasticity. Finally, I will describe how these models are used in the design a patient-specific cooperative control of lower limb exoskeletons.
About the Speaker
Arash Arami received his Ph.D. degree from Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, in 2014 in electrical engineering. From 2014 to 2015, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Movement Analysis and Measurement at EPFL. He was a Research Associate in Human Robotics Group at Imperial College London, from August 2015 to November 2017. In December 2017, Arash joined the University of Waterloo as an Assistant Professor. He is with the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronmics Engineering and leads the Neuromechanics and Assistive Robotics Lab. His research has contributed to the design of instrumented orthopedic implants, biomechanical robotic systems, wearables and algorithms for kinematic-based monitoring during the activities of daily life, neuromechanical modelling and cooperative control of lower limb exoskeletons for individuals with neurological conditions such as incomplete spinal cord injury.