SYNOPSIS. The exoskeleton of crustaceans and insects is formed by cells of the hypodermis, but several hemolymph proteins contribute to the synthesis of the new exoskeleton. These hemolymph proteins share a surprising degree of sequence similarity and are members of the hemocyanin gene family. Copper-containing prophenoloxidases of crustaceans and insects are directly involved in cross-linking ...

Many stroke patients are expected to rehabilitate at home, which limits their access to proper rehabilitation equipment, treatment, or assessment by therapists. We have developed a novel telerehabilitation system that incorporates a human-upper-limb-like device and an exoskeleton device. The system is designed to provide the feeling of real therapist-patient contact via telerehabilitation. We a...

Experiments have shown that elastic ankle exoskeletons can be used to reduce ankle joint and plantar-flexor muscle loading when hopping in place and, in turn, reduce metabolic energy consumption. However, recent experimental work has shown that such exoskeletons cause less favourable soleus (SO) muscle-tendon mechanics than is observed during normal hopping, which might limit the capacity of th...

The aim of the present work was to assess the concentrations of metals in the abdominal muscle and exoskeleton of 3-year-old males and 4-year-old females and males of spiny-cheek crayfish (Orconectes limosus) collected from Lake Gopło. A total of 93 males and 35 females were collected in autumn (October 2014). The analyzes of heavy metals were conducted by means of atomic absorption spectroscop...

This study evaluates the effectiveness of superficial electromyography (sEMG) in the development of biocontrolled exoskeletons, through an analysis based on the findings of foreign and domestic literature on the subject. A brief historical background is provided. The features reviewed include the registration, processing and analysis of the signals from superficial electromyograms in respect of...

This report describes a family with bilateral non-opposable triphalangeal thumb, bringing to two the number of families with this autosomal dominant disorder.

This paper presents a knee-joint model to provide a better understanding on the interaction between natural joints and artificial mechanisms for design and control of rehabilitation exoskeletons. The anatomically based knee model relaxes several commonly made assumptions that approximate a human knee as engineering pin-joint in exoskeleton design. Based on published MRI data, we formulate the k...

BACKGROUND In this paper we propose the use of global Kalman filters (KFs) to estimate absolute angles of lower limb segments. Standard approaches adopt KFs to improve the performance of inertial sensors based on individual link configurations. In consequence, for a multi-body system like a lower limb exoskeleton, the inertial measurements of one link (e.g., the shank) are not taken into accoun...

The thumb plays an important role in hand function. Daily tasks involving pinch, grip, grasp and precise handling are more easily accomplished with an opposable thumb, Loss of thumb diminish much the hand abilities and function [1]. Soft tissue injuries of the hand frequently require flap coverage, either to preserve structures or even to facilitate later reconstruction [2]. The absence of the ...