Tuesday, January 31, 2023
OANDP-L
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
The O&P EDGE
  • PECOS
  • Magazine
    • Subscription
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • News Archive
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Advertising Information
  • O&P Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • EDGE Advantage
  • O&P Facilities
  • Resources
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Calendar
    • Contact
    • About Us
    • O&P Library
    • The Guide
    • Custom Publications
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Direct
    • Amplitude Media Group
  • PECOS
  • Magazine
    • Subscription
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • News Archive
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Advertising Information
  • O&P Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • EDGE Advantage
  • O&P Facilities
  • Resources
    • Product & Service Directory
    • Calendar
    • Contact
    • About Us
    • O&P Library
    • The Guide
    • Custom Publications
    • Advertising Information
    • EDGE Direct
    • Amplitude Media Group
No Result
View All Result
The O&P EDGE Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Algorithm May Improve Brain-Controlled Prostheses

by The O&P EDGE
December 4, 2019
in News
0
SHARES
7
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Two permanent magnets are tracked with magnetic field sensors. MIT engineers have devised an algorithm for high-speed tracking of any number of magnets, with significant implications for augmented reality and prosthesis control.

©2019 IEEE Sensors Journal. Photograph by Jimmy Day courtesy of MIT.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab have devised an algorithm that promises to vastly improve the simultaneous tracking of any number of magnets, which they say has significant implications for prostheses, augmented reality, robotics, and other fields.

Graduate student Cameron Taylor, lead researcher on the project in the Media Lab’s Biomechatronics group, said the algorithm dramatically reduces the time it takes for sensors to determine the positions and orientations of magnets embedded in the body, wood, ceramics, and other materials.

“I’ve been dreaming for years about a minimally invasive approach to controlling prostheses, and magnets offer that potential,” said Hugh Herr, PhD, professor of media arts and sciences at MIT and head of the Biomechatronics group. “But previous techniques were too slow to track tissue movement in real time at high bandwidth.”

Prostheses have relied on electromyography to interpret messages from a user’s peripheral nervous system, and electrodes attached to the skin adjacent to muscles measure impulses delivered by the brain to activate them. But the ability of electrodes to sense signals that change over time, as well as to estimate the length and speed of muscle movement, is limited, and wearing the devices can be uncomfortable.

As scientists studied how to use magnets, which can be embedded in the body indefinitely, to control high-speed robotics, they found it took computers too long to determine precisely where the magnets were and initiate a reaction.

“The software needs to guess at where the magnets are, and in what orientation,” Taylor said. “It checks how good its guess is given the magnetic field it sees, and when it’s wrong, it guesses again and again until it homes in on the location.”

The Biomechatronics group researchers developed an improved method of tracking magnets, including enhanced reflexive control of prostheses and exoskeletons, simplified magnetic levitation, and improved interactions with augmented and virtual reality devices, which extends magnet tracking technology to new high-speed applications. Disturbance from the Earth’s magnetic field also had to be accounted for, and traditional methods of eliminating that interference weren’t practical for the compact, mobile system needed for prostheses. The team was able to program the software to search for the Earth’s magnetic field as if it is simply another magnetic signal.

In comparison to state-of-the-art magnet tracking systems, the new algorithm increased maximum bandwidths by 336 percent, 525 percent, 635 percent, and 773 percent when used to simultaneously track one, two, three, and four magnets, respectively.

“This is the first time a team has demonstrated this technique for real-time tracking of several permanent magnets at once,” Taylor said.

“All kinds of technology exists to implant into the nervous system or muscles for controlling mechatronics, but typically there is a wire across the skin boundary or electronics embedded inside the body to do transmission,” Herr said. “The beauty of this approach is that you’re injecting small passive magnetic beads into the body, and all the technology stays outside the body.”

The group has applied for a patent on its algorithm and its method for using magnets to track muscle movement. It is also working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on guidance for the transition of high-speed, broad bandwidth magnetic tracking into the clinical realm.

“I think it’s possible we would begin human testing as soon as next year,” Herr said. “This isn’t something that’s ten years out at all.”

“Low-Latency Tracking of Multiple Permanent Magnets,” was published by in the December issue of IEEE Sensors Journal.

Related posts:

  1. Magnet-based Prosthetic Control System Developed
  2. Survey Says? Findings From the Field’s Largest Study of People With Upper-limb Amputations
  3. Hidden Dangers of Orthotic Technology
  4. DARPA Project to Harness Magnetism for Prosthetic Limb Control
Previous Post

OPAF News

Next Post

NAAOP Webcast: Support O&P Bill Introduced to Congress

Next Post

NAAOP Webcast: Support O&P Bill Introduced to Congress

  • VIEW CURRENT ISSUE
  • SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE

RECENT NEWS

News

CMS Adds to Orthosis Face-to-Face and Written Order Prior to Delivery List

by The O&P EDGE
January 24, 2023

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the addition of ten orthoses codes that will require a face-to-face...

Read more

Corrected Dates for PrimeFare Central

Kenney Orthopedics Joins Limb Loss & Preservation Registry

Prosthesis Type Affects Quality of Life

Get unlimited access!

Join EDGE ADVANTAGE and unlock The O&P EDGE's vast library of archived content.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY

O&P JOBS

Eastern

CPO/CO/BOCPO and Orthotic Fitter

Central

Certified Prosthetist/Orthotists

Central

Part-Time Prosthetic Practitioner in Oklahoma

 

© 2021 The O&P EDGE

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • EDGE Advantage
  • OANDP-L
  • Subscribe

CONTACT US

866-613-0257

[email protected]

201 E. 4th St
Loveland, CO 80537

The most important industry news and events delivered directly to your inbox every week.

No Result
View All Result
  • PECOS
  • MAGAZINE
    • SUBSCRIBE
    • CURRENT ISSUE
    • ISSUE ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ARCHIVE
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • ADVERTISING INFORMATION
  • O&P JOBS
    • FIND A JOB
    • POST A JOB
  • EDGE ADVANTAGE
  • FACILITES
  • RESOURCES
    • PRODUCTS & SERVICES DIRECTORY
    • CALENDAR
    • CONTACT
    • ABOUT US
    • O&P LIBRARY
    • THE GUIDE
    • CUSTOM PUBLICATIONS
    • ADVERTISING
    • EDGE DIRECT
    • AMPLITUDE
  • OANDP-L
  • LOGIN

© 2021The O&P EDGE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
The O&P EDGE Magazine
 
Required 'Candidate' login to applying this job. Click here to logout And try again
 

Login to your account

  • Forgot Password? | Sign Up

Reset Password

  • Already have an account? Login

Enter the username or e-mail you used in your profile. A password reset link will be sent to you by email.

Signup to your Account

  • By clicking checkbox, you agree to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

    Already have an account? Login

Close
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
 

Account Activation

Before you can login, you must activate your account with the code sent to your email address. If you did not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder. Click here to resend the activation email. If you entered an incorrect email address, you will need to re-register with the correct email address.