Wearable sensor systems for upper limb rehabilitations

The capability to use the upper limbs is crucial in completing basic activities of daily living and thus enable active, independence and high quality of lives. Upper limb rehabilitation and treatment are often applied to a range of patients who suffer from complications following e.g. stroke, arthritis, spinal cord injury, congenital deformity or elderly patients who are physically weak. However, musculoskeletal behavior of upper limbs is complex and involves coordinated movement of arms, hand and fingers as well as muscle contraction. In-depth understanding of upper limb functions is important to enable development of effective rehabilitation strategies. Investigation on upper limb biomechanics is largely dependent on the kinematic and kinetic monitoring of the limbs when performing functional activities.
This multidisciplinary project aims to study arm and hand functions based on real time detection of limb movements and the mechanical load at the hand/object interface. The PhD student will be supervised by academics with interdisciplinary research expertise and work as part of the collaborative teams. Applicants with background in the fields of mechatronics, biomedical engineering, are potentially suitable.

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof. Liudi Jiang, Engineering Materials Research group, Email: [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 8748.