hope shaw

Host Institution: University of Southampton

Hobbies and interests

I am enjoying learning new skills so have recently been learning British Sign Language and brushing up my French. I am also a part of the Southampton Philharmonic Choir where I sing first Soprano. I also enjoy performing stand-up comedy and perform a set about once a month in local venues. I also enjoy reading, crafts, and water sports.

Title: Intelligent feedback to assist upper limb rehabilitation

Supervisors: Prof. Liudi Jiang – University of Southampton & Prof JW McBride – University of Southampton

Detailed information of your project

Upper limb rehabilitation aims to reduce the barriers of daily-living for both upper-limb amputees and those with movement disorders, such as a stroke. These conditions dramatically affect the patient’s quality of life and they can be dependent on rehabilitation technology to live independently. Many clinically used upper limb rehabilitation devices already make use of electromyography (EMG) signals as a control mechanism, relying on user-based sensors to completed feedback loops, for instance from visual cues. There is a growing body of research into implementing intelligent feedback from electronic sensors to either replace or compliment the user-based feedback. By doing this the system has the capabilities of producing more accurate, more precise and faster responses however evidence for this in current systems is sparse and further developments are needed before this technology becomes a clinical standard.

The overall aim of this PhD research is to develop advanced technologies and signal processing strategies for intelligent feedback with a view to assisting upper limb rehabilitation.  The project will build upon an in-depth understanding of upper limb biomechanics and state of the art assistive technologies, such as myoelectric prostheses. The research will review current electromyography (EMG), biomimetic sensors, signal processing and control techniques with the aim to combine and develop these systems to create more stability, precision and accuracy within the upper limb rehabilitation device.