INNOVATION REVIEW
A mobile device that augments strength could help reduce strains that lead to injury, lost work days, and forfeited compensation. Our take on this issue was to add strength to the arm. In our development cycle, we focused on the elbow joint for the bicep curl and extension. By using a backpackmounted motor and cable drive system, it was feasible to add more strength to the user. In turn, the rigid backplate and series of straps reinforced good posture for the user in avoiding strain related injuries. When recovering from debilitating injuries, physical therapy has become the standard and is crucial to recovery. The number of patients requiring care is far overshooting the number of therapists available. By 2050, the number of senior citizens in the US is estimated to reach 80 million. In addition, over 700,000 Americans suffer from strokes each year, many of whom suffer permanent limited mobility3. The increase in the aging population greatly impacts Japan as well, with the over-65 population to increase to 30% by 20254. An exoskeleton could provide a way to tackle this problem of healthcare, allowing a physical therapist to give care to many more patients than before. A medical device like this also has added benefits of quantitative data tracking. Titan focused on joint tracking for the entire arm, with data streaming and logging over time. This information becomes quite valuable for the patient to track their own progress daily, weekly, or monthly, almost turning physical therapy into a game-type scenario for improving. It also provides a way for patients to see the benefit of the often-times difficult and painful exercises they are performing. Therapists, in turn, could track patients remotely, removing the necessary constraint for in-person checkups. For a person whose life has already been interrupted by a debilitating injury, the necessity to travel to the clinic every week or so becomes an additional hassle. Good form could also be reinforced through the use of haptic interfaces — not unlike the rumble packs in video game controllers. Based on a user’s movement and trajectory, vibrational feedback could help alert the user to out-of-line motion. Already, some devices on the market work to help patients better follow their exercises. After months of work (and a spring break spent in the machine shop and prototyping labs), the Titan Arm was flicked on for the first time. That flip of the switch was just the start of a project that has become grander than any of the expectations of our team. The concept of exoskeletons seems to have struck a nerve, and people want to see more. From across the globe, emails have streamed in, penned by excited technologists with helpful suggestions, research professors interested in its future, and potential beta testers hoping to help out. 47