The improvement of coupled tendon transfer surgeries through the insertion of an adaptive engineering mechanism was explored using biomechanical simulations performed in OpenSim. Tendon transfer surgeries are commonly performed on the upper extremity to restore hand function. A conventional 4-tailed tendon transfer procedure model and a modified 4-tailed procedure model...
Tendinopathy is characterized by injured or inflamed tendons and can be caused by long durations of strain or excessive tension being applied. Current treatments for tendinopathy may include physical therapy and pain management. However, these methods may not heal the tendon or restore it to its original healthy state. New...
In the United States, 58.7% of the spinal cord injuries that occur each year result in some degree of tetraplegia, this leads to reduced control of upper limb muscle. One surgery that can restore some upper limb function is a brachioradialis (BR) to flexor pollicis longus (FPL) tendon transfer surgery,...
This thesis explores the development of biomechanical models for evaluating a new class of passive mechanical implants for orthopedic surgery. The proposed implants take the form of passive engineered mechanisms and will be used to improve the functional attachment of muscles to tendons and bone by modifying the transmission of...
The ethics of implant technology is a wide-ranging topic in the field of bioethics. This paper intends to add to the ethical discourse of implant technology by addressing a new class of implants applicable to orthopedic surgery. These new implants are engineered mechanisms that attach muscles to tendons and bones...
This thesis explores the use of human kinesthetic input to advance robotic grasp planning. It specifically focuses on identification of human heuristics of grasp similarity by extensive human-subject experiments. This heuristic is then utilized to develop a robust metric for identifying similar robotic grasps. The central hypothesis of this work...
Steel foundries are in great need of automation as current operations involve many hazardous manual tasks. Automating foundry operations is very challenging due to the variety of tasks that must be performed on physical objects that vary significantly in size, shape, and weight. This thesis focuses on robotically automating the...
There is a strong interest in the robotics community in learning how humans grasp and manipulate objects, partly because robots need to operate in human environments and partly because humans are currently much better in physical interaction tasks than robots. This thesis seeks to identify the human heuristics for grasping...
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RaviBalasubramanian
There is a strong interest in the robotics community in learning how humans
Deburring of machined parts is a crucial task in the aerospace and automotive industry. This process is still performed manually to a large extent due to the unpredictability of burr formation as well as the complex interactions between the human arm and the workpiece. Poor ergonomics, repetitive stress and strain...
Since the 1970s, tendon-transfer surgeries have been routinely performed for a variety of conditions such as stroke, paralysis, spinal atrophy, trauma, and birth defects. The surgery involves rerouting a tendon from a disabled muscle and directly suturing it to a functioning muscle in order to partially restore hand function. This...