In complex and unpredictable environments or in situations of human-robot interaction, a soft and flexible robot performs more safely and is more impact resistant compared to a traditional rigid robot. To enable robots to have bionic features (flexibility, compliance and variable stiffness) similar to human joints, structures involving suspended tubercle tensegrity are researched. The suspended tubercle gives the joint compliance and flexibility by isolating two moving parts. The variable stiffness capacity is achieved by changing the internal stress of tensegrity through the simultaneous contraction or relaxation of the driving tendons. A wrist-inspired tensegrity-based bionic joint is proposed as a case study. It has variable stiffness and two rotations with a total of three degrees of freedom. Through theoretical derivation and simulation calculation in the NASA Tensegrity RobotToolkit (NTRT) simulator, the range of motion, stiffness adjustable capacity, and their interaction are studied. A prototype is built and tested under a motion capture system. The experimental result agrees well with the theoretical simulation. Our experiments show that the suspended tubercle-type tensegrity is flexible, the stiffness is adjustable and easy to control, and it has great potential for bionic joints.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1748-3190/aca197 | DOI Listing |
Background: Arthritis seriously affects people's quality of life, and there is an urgent clinical need to improve the efficacy of medications as well as to reduce the adverse effects induced by treatment. Combined colchicine therapy is gradually being embraced in clinical care, but the evidence remains insufficient.
Methods: English databases were searched from the establishment to September 4, 2024.
Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol
January 2025
Chronic Viral Illness Service, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, McGill University Health Centre, Montreal, Canada.
Introduction: Accurate and reliable diagnosis and monitoring of hepatic fibrosis is increasingly important given the variable natural history in chronic liver disease (CLD) and expanding antifibrotic therapeutic options targeting reversibility of early-stage cirrhosis. This highlights the need to develop more refined and effective noninvasive techniques for the dynamic assessment of fibrogenesis and fibrolysis.
Areas Covered: We conducted a literature review on PubMed, from 1 December 1970, to 1 November 2024, to evaluate and compare available blood-based and imaging-based noninvasive tools for hepatic fibrosis diagnosis and monitoring.
Sensors (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan.
Unbalance faults are among the common causes of interruptions and unexpected failures in rotary systems. Therefore, monitoring unbalance faults is essential for predictive maintenance. While conventional time-invariant mathematical models can assess the impact of these faults, they often rely on proper assumptions of system factors like bearing stiffness and damping characteristics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Med
December 2024
Bielefeld University, Medical School and University Medical Center OWL, Protestant Hospital of the Bethel Foundation, Department of Trauma Surgery and Orthopedics, 33617 Bielefeld, Germany.
Medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (HTO) treats medial knee osteoarthritis by realigning the knee joint, though it still carries quite a high risk of complications. A new Variable Fixation Locking Screw technology, designed to gradually reduce construct stiffness and promote bone healing, aims to address these issues. This observational study evaluates the safety and effectiveness of this innovative approach in improving clinical outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnimals (Basel)
December 2024
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia.
Myotonia congenita is a hereditary, non-dystrophic skeletal muscle disorder associated with muscle stiffness due to delayed muscle relaxation after contraction. We review myotonia congenita in domesticated animals and humans and investigated suspected myotonia congenita in a flock of Merino sheep in Australia. In 2020, a property in New South Wales reported a four-year history of lambs that would fall on disturbance before rapidly recovering, with 13 affected sheep identified in 2020.
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