Towards a scientific theory for robot-enabled neuro-recovery

Prof. Neville Hogan

[Abstract]

The emergence of therapeutic and assistive robots promises new approaches to aiding recovery after neurological injury. To fully realize that promise, we need a quantitative scientific theory of the recovery process. A theory of how motor behavior is recovered should be able to account for at least the main features of unimpaired motor behavior. Despite much slower actuators (muscles), communication (neural transmission) and computation (neural processing) than contemporary robots, humans exhibit remarkably superior dexterity and agility. They also exhibit surprising limitations: moving slowly and smoothly is hard for humans. These observations support a theory that human motor control is based on dynamic primitives, including at least three classes: submovements, oscillations and mechanical impedances. I will review evidence that stereotyped submovements are present in the earliest movements made by persons recovering after stroke. The re-organization of submovements serves to quantify the progress of recovery. Conversely, I will review evidence that learning based on rhythmic performance transfers poorly to more general actions. This may account, in part, for the surprising difficulty of technology-assisted locomotor rehabilitation. I will also articulate how dynamic primitives may account for some striking features of recovery: abnormal synergies may emerge as a consequence of abnormal muscle mechanical impedance; and saltatory progress—plateaus of performance followed by subsequent periods of further improvement—may emerge as a consequence of grouping submovements.

[Biography]

Burak Temelkuran, PhD, is a Research Fellow at the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Imperial College London, UK. He received his MS (1996) and PhD (2000) degrees from Department of Physics at Bilkent University, Turkey. As a postdoctoral researcher at MIT (2000-2002), Dr. Temelkuran has contributed to the discovery of the 1D omnidirectional reflecting fiber that has been used in over 150,000 surgeries, and his research pioneered the field of multi-material fibres. Dr. Temelkuran has joined the Hamlyn Centre in 2016, and his research is targeting unmet needs in medicine, with his expertise in the field of multi-material fibres and his 15 years of experience in the industry bridging engineering and medical sciences.