Artificial Muscles for Tremor Suppression: A Biorobotic Arm

As part of the Bionic Intelligence Tübingen Stuttgart (BITS) collaboration, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the University of Tübingen, and the University of Stuttgart have created a biorobotic arm equipped with HASEL artificial muscles. These electro-hydraulic actuators contract and relax dynamically to counteract involuntary tremors. 

• The biorobotic arm mirrors tremor patterns recorded from real patients. 

• Once tremor suppression is activated, the HASEL muscles contract and relax in a coordinated manner to neutralize involuntary wrist and hand movements. 

• Computer simulations confirm that these artificial muscles generate sufficient force for practical applications. 

”We see great potential for our muscles to become the building blocks of a garment one can wear very discreetly so that others don’t even realize the person suffers from a tremor,” says Alona Shagan Shomron, postdoctoral researcher at MPI-IS and first author of the study published in Device. 

Beyond tremor suppression, this robotic arm serves as a test platform for soft exoskeleton development. Using biomechanical computer simulations, researchers can evaluate artificial muscles without costly and time-consuming clinical trials. 

“With the combination of a mechanical patient and biomechanical model, we can measure if any tested artificial muscles are good enough to suppress all tremors, even very strong ones. If we ever created a wearable device, we could adjust it to respond individually to each tremor,” explains Prof. Daniel Häufle from the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen. 

One key advantage of this research platform is the ability to validate new assistive technologies in early development stages. 

“The mechanical patient allows us to test the potential of new technologies very early, without the need for expensive and time-consuming clinical testing on real patients,” says Prof. Syn Schmitt, expert in Computational Biophysics and Biorobotics at the University of Stuttgart. 

Over the years, HASEL muscles have been refined and improved, bringing researchers closer to their vision of integrating them into wearable assistive devices. These soft robotic solutions could provide personalized tremor suppression, improving independence and quality of life for individuals affected by movement disorders. 

MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems