Category: Research news

Zhang and Brown Receive NIH Trailblazer Award

University of Utah mechanical engineering assistant professor Haohan Zhang and Kahlert School of Computing assistant professor Daniel Brown have received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trailblazer Award in a multi-PI proposal. This 3-year project will develop a new neck brace for patients with dropped head syndrome that use gaze tracking to help restore head-neck mobility. The Trailblazer Awards program is a prestigious opportunity for new and early-stage faculty to pursue research programs that “integrate engineering and the physical sciences with the life and/or biomedical sciences.” Dropped head syndrome is a condition most commonly associated with neuromuscular disorders where...

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Utah Bionic Leg in Science Robotics

The Utah Bionic Leg, a motorized prosthetic for lower-limb amputees developed by University of Utah mechanical engineering associate professor Tommaso Lenzi and his students in the HGN Lab, is on the cover of the newest issue of Science Robotics. Science Robotics is part of the Science family of journals and covers the “latest technological advances and for the critical social, ethical and policy issues surrounding robotics.”   Read more…....

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Prof. Mascaro receives $348K NIH grant to simulate tendon reconstructive surgeries

“Simulating Tendon Reconstructive Surgeries using a Virtual Hand Model and Robotic Testbed,” National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIH R21). PI: Stephen Mascaro, Co-PI: Kenneth Foreman, 07/02/2019-05/31/2021, $347,798. The goal of this project is to advance tendon reconstructive surgery by providing a new way to predict the surgical outcomes using a virtual model for surgeons to examine the outcomes of surgery like range of motion and strength of grip. We currently have a unique virtual model of the tendon system of the human finger that can simulate the kinematics of the tendons and predict the pose...

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Prof. Lenzi receives new $600K NSF NRI grant for control of robotic leg prostheses

For amputees, walking down the sidewalk verses taking the stairs can be considerable obstacles. Mechanical engineering assistant professor Tommaso Lenzi just received collaborative funding with Drs. Nicholas Fey and Kenneth Hoyt (University of Texas at Dallas), from the National Science Foundation Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation (NSF CMMI), National Robotics Initiative (NRI), for their research entitled, “Muscle Ultrasound Sensing for Intuitive Control of Robotic Leg Prostheses,” $600,987 (U), and $578,233 (UT). The goal of this project is to fill the knowledge gap regarding the integration of the user’s volition or intuitive will, in the control of lightweight robotic ankle...

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Abbott, Kong, Leang and Monson receive $2M NSF EFRI Award

Congratulations to Profs. Abbott, Kong, Leang and Monson on their new $2M NSF EFRI Award, project in collaboration with R. Rajamani of Univ. of Minnesota and O. Pak of Santa Clara Univ. Project tile: “EFRI C3 SoRo: Magneto-electroactive Soft, Continuum, Compliant, Configurable (MESo-C3) Robots for Medical Applications Across Scales” The vision of this collaborative project between the University of Utah, the University of Minnesota, and Santa Clara University is to extend the capabilities of clinicians by enabling minimally invasive access to locations in the human body that are currently difficult or impossible to reach, using a new class of...

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