We are excited to share that we here in the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering | UNC & NC State have received a new NIH R01 to advance resistive exoskeleton technology for healthy aging!
#Exoskeletons are receiving enormous attention for their potential to assist human movement. But, if our goal is to preserve muscle mass and function for older adults, we may not necessarily want our engineered technologies doing the work for us. Our new project flips the traditional exoskeleton paradigm – from assisting muscle function to actively training it.
Together with my esteemed co-PI Zach Lerner at Northern Arizona University, we will investigate resistive ankle exoskeletons designed not to assist movement, but to therapeutically challenge the muscles responsible for push-off during walking.
In our multi-site randomized clinical trial, we will combine targeted ankle resistance with real-time push-off biofeedback, effectively using wearable technology to transform walking into a highly targeted and functionally relevant form of muscle power training.
Zach and I are fortunate to be working alongside an outstanding multidisciplinary team, including Mike Lewek (UNC Physical Therapy), John Batsis, MD (UNC Geriatrics and Public Health), and Anastasia Ivanova (UNC Biostatistics).
Ultimately, we hope this work can help expand the role of exoskeletons toward therapeutically restoring and preserving locomotor function.
And you guessed it – we’re likely to be growing our teams at both The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Northern Arizona University to make it all happen. Plan for more information about those opportunities coming in the months ahead.
Very excited to get started!