Design of pediatric robot to simulate infant biomechanics for neuro-developmental assessment in a sensorized gym

Abstract

Infants at risk for developmental delays often exhibit postures and movements that may provide a window into potential impairment for cerebral palsy and other neuromotor conditions. We developed a simple 4 DOF robot pediatric simulator to help provide insight into how infant kinematic movements may affect the center of pressure (COP), a common measure thought to be sensitive to neuromotor delay when assessed from supine infants at play. We conducted two experiments: 1) we compared changes in COP caused by limb movements to a human infant and 2) we determined if we could predict COP position due to limb movements using simulator kinematic pose retrieved from video and a sensorized mat. Our results indicate that the limb movements alone were not sufficient to mimic the COP in a human infant. In addition, we show that given a robot simulator and a simple camera, we can predict COP measured by a force sensing mat. Future directions suggest a more complex robot is needed such as one that may include trunk DOF.