Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter One
An Introduction to Biomechatronics
Le Li and Raymond Kai-Yu Tong
Department of Health Technology and Informatics,
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong, China
In this topic, research groups across the world interested in the state of the art in
the biomechatronics, including wearable exoskeletal rehabilitation robots for upper
limb and lower limb; intention-driven robot for stroke rehabilitation at hand, wrist
and elbow joints, as well as robot-assistant method in medical training and capsule
endoscope. The promising technology integrated in biomechatronics such as func-
tional electrical stimulation (FES) and augmented feedback control are also covered
in this topic.
1.1 WHAT IS BIOMECHATRONICS?
Biomechatronics is a recently defined research area, aiming at the development
of assistive systems for human rehabilitation and mobility improvement. This
multidisciplinary field combines the intelligence and efforts of engineers, re-
searchers and clinicians from many disciplines including biology, biomedical and
biomechanical engineering, Human-machine interaction, rehabilitation medicine,
prosthetics and orthotics.
The term
mechatronics
was introduced in Japan in the mid 1970s and has been
defined as the engineering discipline dealing with the research, design and im-
plementation of hybrid systems comprising mechanical, electrical and intelligent
components or subsystems (Pons, (2008)).
The scope of biomechatronics is broader than mechatronics in aspects such as
biomechatronics intrinsically includes the development of mechatronics systems,
e.g. (control structures and actuators) and biomechatronics uses biologically
inspired design to integrate the mechanical parts with biological system, e.g. robot
fish.
