Concept 1 / 1
Key Concepts to Memorize
Medical Robotics categories:
- Exoskeletons (walking support)
- Prosthetics (replacement limbs)
- Surgical robots
- Care robots
- Rehabilitation devices
Medical Robotics = unusual combination of:
mechatronics + medicine + psychology + mathematics + neuroscience + smart materials
Why prosthetics is uniquely challenging:
- Must be nearly permanent
- Must be totally body-compatible
- Can only work using body signals (e.g., EMG)
- An error can lead to trauma/accident → reliability is the main issue
Co-adaptation (core concept):
- The device learns from the user _while_ the user learns to use the device
- Both sides adapt to each other simultaneously
- Applies to all medical robots:
- Surgical robots → adapt to surgeon's style
- Walking exoskeletons → adapt to patient's desires
- Rehabilitation devices → adapt to patient's improving condition
- Prostheses → learn to understand amputee's signals
Brain plasticity in prosthetics:
- The brain's ability to (re-)learn is exploited
- User is not just a customer — they are a teacher for the robot AND a learner taught by the robot
Improving data quality (3 directions):
1. Bring the user in from the start (user as data source)
2. Improve sensors: high-density, multi-modal, wearable/wireless/unobtrusive
3. Improve interaction: interactive ML + interactive human learning