Development of AUTOMA 2.0: an innovative wearable platform to assess the muscular activity of patients affected by Neuromuscular Disorders

/by

Andrea Vannini1, Roberto Lazzarini1, Mario Milazzo2, Francesco Sansone3, Guja Astrea4, Silvia Frosini4, Francesca Torri5, Roberto Chiappini5, Giulia Ricci5, Gabriele Siciliano5, Filippo Maria Santorelli4, Raffaele Conte3, Stefano Roccella1

1 The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Livorno, Italy

2 The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pontedera, Pisa, Italy

3 Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council of Italy (IFC-CNR), Pisa, Italy

4 IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Calambrone, Italy

5 Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy

Neuromuscular disorders (NMDs) are conditions that have a high incidence in the population worldwide. The current approach to assess the muscular activity of the limbs consists in qualitatively evaluating the performance of a patient upon manual exercises guided by a specialized operator, or in employing bulky and costly medical instruments with limited flexibility towards different condition grades. AUTOMA 2.0 is a wearable device that overcomes the limitations of the traditional approaches, and provides an objective and quantitative assessment of functionality of the upper/lower limb muscles. AUTOMA 2.0 is composed of: a custom force bracelet to measure external force inputs imposed by physiotherapist, biaxial angular goniometers to measure the relative rotation of the limbs, and a module to perform electromyographic measurements. A textile sleeve and a polymeric harness are used to assemble the devices and to enhance the wearability. Data can be transmitted up to 1000 Hz to a local computer through a Bluetooth module for an online/offline processing. A software application based on AI algorithms processes data in real time and objectively quantifies the grade of impairment. A pilot study, recently conducted at the local hospital in Pisa (Italy)was carried out to calibrate and validate the instrumentation: AUTOMA 2.0 was tested by an interdisciplinary team that found it able to provide a precise and quantitative evaluation of the muscular activity, thus giving the possibility to better diagnose a potential NMD and to provide a more targeted therapy to treat the condition.

Acknowledgment: The present work was supported by the project InGene 2.0, funded by the Tuscany Region under the Bando Salute 2018.