Background
In recent years, driven by the rapid development of aging societies, smart healthcare, and human-machine collaboration technologies, medical robotics, rehabilitation robots, and wearable health monitoring systems have increasingly become vital research directions in smart healthcare. In the process of rehabilitation and medical care, the real-time and precise measurement of human motion, joint variations, and muscle activity is a critical factor in improving rehabilitation efficiency and healthcare quality. However, conventional rigid sensors exhibit limitations such as wearing discomfort, insufficient flexibility, difficulty in conforming to complex human contours, and an inability to withstand large deformations, making them challenging to implement in long-term human motion monitoring. Flexible strain sensors offer distinct advantages, including high flexibility, stretchability, biocompatibility, and high sensitivity. They can effectively measure human joint flexion, muscle deformation, and gait variations, and can be further integrated into medical robots and smart rehabilitation systems to establish human-machine collaborative platforms with real-time sensing and intelligent feedback capabilities.
Research Objectives
Development of high-sensitivity flexible strain sensors; Establishment of a human motion monitoring system; Construction of a wearable rehabilitation sensing platform
Methods
(I) Development of Flexible Strain Sensors Develop flexible strain sensors characterized by high sensitivity, high extensibility, and superior stability. This task involves exploring various conductive materials and flexible substrates, as well as optimizing the fabrication process conditions for these sensors. (II) Establishment of a Human Motion Monitoring System Attach the sensors to key anatomical sites, such as the fingers, wrists, elbows, and knees, to measure joint flexion angles, gait variations, and muscle activity signals, thereby establishing a comprehensive human motion database.
Innovation
Enhancing the comfort of wearable systems and their feasibility for clinical applications. Establishing an integrated platform for flexible sensors and medical robotics.
Expected Outcomes
Completed development of high-sensitivity flexible strain sensors. Established human motion monitoring platforms. Published research papers in SCI journals and international conference proceedings.