Peter S. Lum

Biomedical Engineering   McGuire Hall Annex   Room 427   1112 E. Clay St.   Virginia Commonwealth University   Richmond, VA 23298-0694	Tel: 804-827-0446 Fax: 804-828-4454 E-mail: plum@vcu.edu
Web: http://www.egr.vcu.edu/biomed/bme_lum.html
Research: Development of novel devices and treatments for rehabilitation of motor                     function following neurological injury

BBSI project: Design of a low-cost device for retraining walking in Spinal Cord Injury and Stroke
Body-weight supported treadmill training has shown promise for rehabilitating walking in subjects with neurological injuries. It involves moving the patient's legs in patterns that resemble normal walking. However, the training is labor intensive for therapists, requiring 2-3 therapists per patient. The Lokomat device can also perform this training and is undergoing extensive testing at several sites across the country. But the Lokomat costs over 100k. An ongoing project in the lab relates to developing a low-cost, take-home device that could provide access to this training for many patients who would benefit from it. The student would first study the kinematics of normal walking. A design for a mechanical device will be developed that can potentially provide walking kinematics in patient's who have limited ability to move their legs on their own. A prototype of the device will be fabricated and feasibility of the design will be evaluated.

BBSI project: Design of a portable hand exerciser for rehabilitation of hand function following neurological injury
There is growing evidence that active repetitive movements promote the most effective recovery of function following neurological injuries such as stroke, spinal cord injury or cerebral palsy. For the hand, this is often complicated by tone (involuntary activation) in the flexors, which impedes the ability to extend the wrist and fingers. A device that counteracts this tone and assists active repetitive movement over the entire range would significantly improve outcomes for a large population of patients. While much emphasis has been placed on devices that assist repetitive movement in the lower limbs, elbow and shoulder, there is no comparable device for the hand and wrist. In this project, the student will design a device that applies forces to the hand, enabling active repetitive movement. A prototype will be built and feasibility evaluated.

References
Lum PS, Burgar CG, Shor PC, Majmundar M, Van der Loos M. Robot-assisted movement training compared with conventional therapy techniques for the rehabilitation of upper-limb motor function after stroke. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2002 Jul;83(7):952-9.

Lum PS, Burgar CG, Kenney DE, Van der Loos HF. Quantification of force abnormalities during passive and active-assisted upper-limb reaching movements in post-stroke hemiparesis. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 1999 Jun;46(6):652-62.

Other research interests (see web page for more details)

•  Understanding the motor control principles that underlie human movement
  
  

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