CAREN is made by customizing hardware and developing software to enable measurements of motion of a patient in detail, as a response to a perturbation
from the computer driven platform.
The movements of the platform are performed
in close synchrony with the projected images on the video screen and can
be independent of the movements of the patient or co-dependent of the
movements of the patient. The inverse dynamics simulations are performed
with a 15 segments 3D human body model (Motion Capture). The simulations
reconstruct the moments of force, produced around the joints of the patient.
The joints depend in their turn on muscle activation. Especially in complex
balance tasks, the patterns of muscle activation determine whether a patient
falls or not. These simulations are aimed at an understanding and evaluation
of normal or pathological response patterns in certain balance tasks.
The forward dynamic simulations can be done at any time during an inverse
dynamic simulation. The flow of movements as an input to the inverse dynamic
simulation is stopped during the sequence and the calculated joint movements
are now used as input, while the movements become output.
The current CAREN system combines the following elements:
Hardware:
- Optical Motion Capture system
- Electromagnetic tracking devices
- Multi-CPU hardware platform
- A 6 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) Motion platform
- Control computer with dual head option and video I/O.
Software: The CAREN software system, called D-FLOW®,
is the heart of the CAREN project.
The D-FLOW® technology is the first
technology to provide a Real-Time feedback loop between a Motion-Tracker
and a Motion-Platform. This allows, for example, a doctor to place a patient
with Parkinson into the D-FLOW® system and compensate for tremors,
which have prevented the patient from standing still.
Video screen and 3D shutter glasses: The visual part
of the environment is projected in 3D on the video screen in front of
the patient, wearing 3D shutter glasses.
The patient stands on a platform,
which can be controlled as part of the virtual environment or as a reaction
to movements of the patient. The patient wears optical or magnetic markers
of which the position and orientation are recorded. These are fed into
an algorithm that turns them into the degrees of freedom of the human
body model, which is filled with the segment masses and inertia’s
of the patient.
For more info look on the Technical section of this site |
