Analiza in sinteza gibanja pri človeku in stroju (Slovene)

The research group has in the past won recognition in the area of functional electrical stimulation (FES) of paralyzed muscles. A series of papers was published in eminent journals together with the first international book on FES. Over 100 paraplegic persons practiced four channel reciprocal gait pattern at their homes. Two Slovene enterprises are producing electrical stimulators proposed by our group. Also in future, the research group will direct the efforts into the rehabilitation engineering field. FES rehabilitative methods will be completed with robotic rehabilitation approaches. The movement of both lower and upper extremities will be studied. The research of the movement of lower extremities will include studies of standing, standing-up, and walking. The strategies of balancing after disturbed posture will be sudied in healthy and paralyzed persons. FES controller for ankle joint muscle groups will be developed providing hand-free standing during voluntary movements of the upper body. Non-analytic control of multichannel FES will be applied during rising from sitting to standing position. Impedance controlled robotic device will be developed enabling standing-up to subjects with paralyzed lower and upper extremities. Gait of paretic persons using crutch support will be studied. New electrical stimulator with wire-less control will be built. Energy efficiency of walking will be improved through analysis and synthesis of kinematic and dynamic gait stability. A gait re-education system will be developed where the signals from the paralyzed limb will be first sensory integrated and then delivered to the walking subject as a cognitive feedback information. The research of the movement of upper extremities is part of extensive European research project with the aim to develop a complex therapeutic robot system. The Slovene researchers will contribute in developing impedance control algorithms enabling proper man-machine interface. Mathematical musculo-skeletal model will be designed as a support for technological development of robotic training device. Novel computer methods for quantitative evaluation of therapeutic treatments will be proposed based on the use of haptic interface.