Work

Method of Topological Skeletonization for Evaluation of Effectiveness of Medical Rehabilitation Based on Upper Limb Exoskeletons

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: An important aspect of medical rehabilitation using exoskeletons is objective monitoring of the effectiveness of the exercise program. This control is most often manual and relies on the attention of a rehabilitation physician, but advanced rehabilitation systems also use computer vision technology. Topological skeletons generalize large areas of digital images, representing a virtual internal framework of the analyzed object. The patient and the exoskeleton are described either as a set of spatially disparate (but not explicitly related to either the patient or the exoskeleton) topological skeletons, or as branches of a single topological skeleton which does not allow for objective monitoring of joint displacements. A method to solve this problem for medical rehabilitation using an upper-limb exoskeleton is proposed. It includes the following stages: (I) identifying the exoskeleton, as well as upper and lower parts of the patient’s body; (II) independent construction of three topological skeletons (separately for the exoskeleton and for the upper and lower parts of the patient’s body); (III) their integration. This approach allows for accurate, real-time analysis of movements in the upper-limb joints and prompt notification to the rehabilitation physician of any significant deviations in the technique of performing prescribed exercises.

Source: Technologies

DOI: 10.3390/technologies13110516

Authors: Artem Obukhov, Anton Potlov, Mikhail Krasnyanskiy, Denis Dedov, Dmitry Sudakov

Institution: Tambov State Technical University

Language: English

Topic: Prosthetics and Rehabilitation Robotics

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,930