Model-based optimisation for the personalisation of robot-assisted gait training

PAPER ID: TMRB-06-24-OA-0958 1 Model-based optimisation for the personalisation of robot-assisted gait training Andreas Christou, Daniel F. N. Gordon, Theodoros Stouraitis, Juan C. Moreno and Sethu Vijayakumar Abstract--Personalised rehabilitation can be key to promoting gait independence and quality of life. Robots can enhance therapy by systematically delivering support in gait training, but often use one-size-fits-all control methods, which can be suboptimal. Here, we describe a model-based optimisation method for designing and fine-tuning personalised robotic controllers. As a case study, we formulate the objective of providing assistance as needed as an optimisation problem, and we demonstrate how musculoskeletal modelling can be used to develop personalised interventions. Eighteen healthy participants (age = 26 4) were recruited and the personalised control parameters for each were obtained to provide assistance as needed during a unilateral tracking task. A comparison was carried out between the personalised controller and the non-personalised controller. In simulation, a significant improvement was predicted when the personalised parameters were used. Experimentally, responses varied: six subjects showed significant improvements with the personalised parameters, eight subjects showed no obvious change, while four subjects performed worse. High interpersonal and intra-personal variability was observed with both controllers. This study highlights the importance of personalised control in robot-assisted gait training, and the need for a better estimation of human-robot interaction and human behaviour to realise the benefits of model-based optimisation. I. Introduction Motor function deficits are often the result of neurological disorders and can significantly impact the quality of This research was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC, grant reference EP/L016834/1) as part of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Robotics and Autonomous Systems at Heriot-Watt University and The University of Edinburgh, in part by the Alan Turing Institute, U.K., in part by Project I+D+i RED2022-134319-T (Spain), and in part by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Moonshot R&D Program (Grant No. JPMJMS2239). This includes one multimedia MP4 format movie clip, which provides scenes of the experimental setup. This material is 24.1 MB in size. T. Stouraitis is with DeepSea Technologies, 105 64 Athens, Greece (email: stoutheo@gmail.com).