Wearable Robotics: Systems and Applications provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field of wearable robotics, including active orthotics (exoskeleton) and active prosthetics for the upper and lower limb and full body. In its two major sections, wearable robotics systems are described from both engineering perspectives and their application in medicine and industry. Systems and applications at various levels of the development cycle are presented, including those that are still under active research and development, systems that are under preliminary or full clinical trials, and those in commercialized products. This book is a great resource for anyone working in this field, including researchers, industry professionals and those who want to use it as a teaching mechanism. Provides a comprehensive overview of the entire field, with both engineering and medical perspectives Helps readers quickly and efficiently design and develop wearable robotics for healthcare applications

Rehabilitation Robots for Neurorehabilitation in High, Low, and Middle Income Countries: Current Practice, Barriers, and Future Directions describes the state-of-art research of stroke rehabilitation using robot systems in selected High Income Countries (HICs) and Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), along with potential solutions that enable these technologies to be available to clinicians worldwide, regardless of country and economic status. The book brings together engineers and clinicians, offers insights into healthcare disparities, and highlights potential solutions to facilitate the availability and accessibility of more robot systems to stroke survivors and their clinicians worldwide, regardless of country and economic status.In addition, the book provides examples on how robotic technology is used to bridge rehabilitation gaps in LMICs and describes potential strategies for increasing the expansion of robot-assisted stroke rehabilitation across more LMICs. Provides a global picture of robot-assisted neurorehabilitation Describes stroke healthcare in selected LMICs and selected HICs, along with disparity issues Discusses potential barriers to the penetration of rehabilitation robots into LMICs Presents concrete examples on how clinicians and engineers have begun to address healthcare gaps with rehabilitation robotics and how to deal with accessibility barriers

The goal of this book is to bring together ideas from several different disciplines in order to examine the focus and aims that drive rehabilitation intervention and technology development. Specifically, the chapters in this book address the questions of what research is currently taking place to further develop rehabilitation, applied technology and how we have been able to modify and measure responses in both healthy and clinical populations using these technologies. The following chapters are dedicated toward addressing these issues: 1) Does Training with Technology Add to Functional Gains?; 2) Are there Rules that Govern Recovery of Function?; 3) Using the Body’s Own Signals to Augment Therapeutic Gains; 4) Technology Incorporates Cognition and Action; 5) Technology Enhances the Impact of Rehabilitation Programs; 6) Summary.

Wearable Technology in Medicine and Health Care provides readers with the most current research and information on the clinical and biomedical applications of wearable technology. Wearable devices provide applicability and convenience beyond many other means of technical interface and can include varying applications, such as personal entertainment, social communications and personalized health and fitness. The book covers the rapidly expanding development of wearable systems, thus enabling clinical and medical applications, such as disease management and rehabilitation. Final chapters discuss the challenges inherent to these rapidly evolving technologies. Provides state-of-the-art coverage of the latest advances in wearable technology and devices in healthcare and medicine Presents the main applications and challenges in the biomedical implementation of wearable devices Includes examples of wearable sensor technology used for health monitoring, such as the use of wearables for continuous monitoring of human vital signs, e.g. heart rate, respiratory rate, energy expenditure, blood pressure and blood glucose, etc. Covers examples of wearables for early diagnosis of diseases, prevention of chronic conditions, improved clinical management of neurodegenerative conditions, and prompt response to emergency situations

A wearable robot is a mechatronic system that is designed around the shape and function of the human body, with segments and joints corresponding to those of the person it is externally coupled with. Teleoperation and power amplification were the first applications, but after recent technological advances the range of application fields has widened. Increasing recognition from the scientific community means that this technology is now employed in telemanipulation, man-amplification, neuromotor control research and rehabilitation, and to assist with impaired human motor control. Logical in structure and original in its global orientation, this volume gives a full overview of wearable robotics, providing the reader with a complete understanding of the key applications and technologies suitable for its development. The main topics are demonstrated through two detailed case studies; one on a lower limb active orthosis for a human leg, and one on a wearable robot that suppresses upper limb tremor. These examples highlight the difficulties and potentialities in this area of technology, illustrating how design decisions should be made based on these. As well as discussing the cognitive interaction between human and robot, this comprehensive text also covers: the mechanics of the wearable robot and it’s biomechanical interaction with the user, including state-of-the-art technologies that enable sensory and motor interaction between human (biological) and wearable artificial (mechatronic) systems; the basis for bioinspiration and biomimetism, general rules for the development of biologically-inspired designs, and how these could serve recursively as biological models to explain biological systems; the study on the development of networks for wearable robotics. Wearable Robotics: Biomechatronic Exoskeletons will appeal to lecturers, senior undergraduate students, postgraduates and other researchers of medical, electrical and bio engineering who are interested in the area of assistive robotics. Active system developers in this sector of the engineering industry will also find it an informative and welcome resource.

Smart homes, home automation and ambient-assisted living are terms used to describe technological systems that enrich our living environment and provide means to support care, facilitate well-being and improve comfort. This handbook provides an overview of the domain from the perspective of health care and technology. In Part 1, we set out to describe the demographic changes in society, including ageing and diseases and impairments which lead to the needs for technological solutions. In Part 2, we describe the technological solutions, ranging from sensor-based networks, components, to communication protocols that are used in the design of smart homes. We also deal will biomedical features which can be measured and services that can be delivered to end-users as well as the use of social robots. In Part 3, we present best practices in the field. These best practices mainly focus on existing projects in Europe, the USA and Asia, in which people receive help through dedicated technological solutions being part of the continuum of the home environment and care.