Sharif Digital Repository

In recent years, displacement is more considered in comparison with force in design of structures. For example in 2800 standard -3rd edition- it is stated that for the reason that real displacement of structure in linear analysis is not calculable; it is necessary to resonate the lateral displacement of elastic analysis with a coefficient which is related to behavior coefficient of structure. This displacement should be less than allowable limit that is noted in the code. In similar foreign codes importance factor is also noted beside behavior factor in calculation of real lateral displacement of structure. Evaluation of this coefficient for different structures, comparison with suggested... 

This thesis presents the results of an experimental and analytical study on the application of the strapping technique for seismic retrofit of reinforced concrete columns. In this technique, the columns are externally confined by post-tensioned metal strips. In the first phase of the experiments, the compressive stress-strain behavior of strapped cylindrical and prismatic specimens was studied. Effects of several parameters were studied including shape and size of specimens, strength of plain concrete, mechanical characteristics of confining strips and the level of pre-tensioning of the strips. The second phase of the tests included studying the lateral performance of strapped RC columns.... 

According to epidemiological studies conducted in Iran, nowadays, about 200 to 300 people in Iran suffer from stroke. The hands, including fingers, are the most injured and cause one’s disability and creates many direct and indirect costs for the person and the government. In addition to stroke, injuries caused by the use of various apparatus are responsible for hands disruption. It is usually referred to a physiotherapist for the physical disabilities treatment, the treatment process is quite long and time-consuming (usually a one-year physiotherapy). After this treatment, the physiotherapist will prescribe exercise and radiation therapies for the patient. Therefore, in recent years the... 

In process of making prosthetic limb, each of the prosthetic limbs must be costume fitted and built since each amputation of the patient is unique. The design and fabrication process of artificial limb consists of several different steps and begins with a precise measurement process that will be used to design the prosthetic limb. If possible, a prosthetist begins taking measurements before the patient's limb is even amputated, so that the fabrication process can get started. Today, much research which has been done in Augmented Reality and 3D scanning technologies shows that these technologies can help people with disabilities to have better experience in their life by using them in... 

In recent years there have been a growing number of patients who are no more capable of leading an independent life, due to strokes, accident, or a variety of diseases. Thus, vast fields of physical rehabilitation have come into the attention of goverments and researchers. High costs of rehabilitation programs and their length on one hand, and the difficulties of commuting such patients to rehabilitation centers on the other hand, has made health department of various countries to look for alternative solutions.In this thesis, a computerized system has been designed and implemented in order to assess and guide patients in their rehabilitation excercises without needing any direct contact.... 

Maintaining balance is an essential need for human. This ability is sometimes lost or weakened due to reasons such as muscle weakness, vision problems, and neuromuscular problems. It was difficult to accurately measure balance parameters in the past because it needs expensive equipment and the presence of a physiotherapist. In new clinical setups, accurate measurements of balance quality have become possible using advanced devices. These devices are also used to provide therapeutic exercises to improve the balance condition. One of the most famous products in this area is the Biodex balance SD. The cost of this device, however, is high and it is for research and clinical use. The purpose of... 

Today, people living in all over the world are faced with the arrival of Biomechanics and Human need of rehabilitation equipment is growing. Wearable robots have created a new field in service robots’ world. Unlike industrial robots, these robots are strongly interacting with humans. Physical interaction between humans and robots considered one of the exciting and challenging research topics. With attention to this issue, research projects have been started in the department of mechanical engineering of Sharif University of technology to design, manufacture and control a wearable robot with few degrees of freedom used in the lower joints. In this thesis, initially focused on the conceptual... 

Recognition of hand movements plays a key role in both human computer interaction and rehabilitation activities. This thesis focuses on hand pose estimation and motion tracking through a model-based stereo vision-based system. To allow for a complete 3D motion, initially a simple hand model with 20 landmark points was constructed and used to track its motion through a sequence of stereo images. Furthermore, a skeletal model representing the kinematical features of the hand was utilized to provide a meaningful hand motion and gesticulation. To evaluate and eventually recognize the performed hand motion, Kalman filter and Kalman smoother algorithms were implemented to evaluate the efficacy and... 

Most elderly and physically disabled people suffer from lack of functionality and dexterity in their elbow or wrist. These disabilities are due to the damages mostly caused by sport surgery, spinal surgery, or stroke. Therefore, design of an assistive exoskeleton robot for upper limb movements seems necessary. The purpose of this study is to design, fabricate and deliver a control algorithm for an assistive wearable robot. The robot has three degrees of freedom in order to help the flexion/extension of elbow and wrist. Dynamic and kinematic model of elbow, forearm, and wrist is developed to determine the amounts of torques which are required in the joint actuators mounted on the robot.... 

The rehabilitating of lower extremity to regain the walking ability in a sick person is one of the main fields in rehabilitation. A problem in an ankle of a sick person is one of the factors which causes that person loses his walking ability. It can fairly be recovered through physiotherapy. This sort of rehabilitation is via constant relationship between the sick person and the therapist by doing many repeated exercises. The repeated natures of these types of exercises and also their high expenses have inspired many scholars to design some robots with the capability of observing and controlling the exercises. Although these robots exist in this field, a few of them have been put into... 

Some of the most usual problems in rehabilitation are ankle joint disabilities which are caused by stroke or damages like ankle twist and disrupt the movement activities. So rehabilitation of this joint which has important role in daily activities like walking is of high importance.
The aim of this research is design of an unwearable robot for rehabilitation of ankle. After the study of several different mechanisms, this robot was designed based on a 2 DOF mechanism named “Agile Eye”. Based on the mechanism and parametrical analysis, final design of this robot was drafted using optimization method. Next, the musculoskeletal model of lower limb was created in MATLAB and by using this... 

In this project, two bidirectional loadcell are designed and fabricated to be installed on a walker. Then upper extremities’ forces and moments have been obtained. Results can be used for rehabilitation purposes in Spinal Cord Injuries and Cerebral Palsy cases. The method used in this project is as follows: First, since the commercial multidirectional loadcells are too expensive, the loadcell (and an appropriate electronic board) are fabricated. Ultimately, a complete gait analysis by means of VICON motion analysis and using inverse dynamic method has been held to measure upper extremities’ forces and moments in the wrist, elbow and shoulder. The results for a person with Spinal Cord Injury... 

Stroke is one of the most common neurological disorders, and inability to move is the most important complication. Rehabilitation exercises are currently the most effective treatment for these patients. Fatigue during rehabilitation exercises greatly reduces the effectiveness of the exercises. Therefore, it is very important to recognize the level of fatigue.Nowadays, most of the conventional methods for measuring fatigue is either based on signal analysis (EMG) which is experimental, or report by patients and doctors might be employed as a criterion. Fatigue leads to changes in the coordination of kinematics. Hence, the main purpose of this study is to quantify fatigue corresponding to... 

Parkinson's disease impairs the patients' balance with the degeneration of the neurons related to their postural control. There are many rehabilitation methods to preclude the disease or weaken its effects. To assess the influence of these methods and their outcome, there are two main evaluation methods, including clinical (qualitative and dependent on the presence of a therapist) and quantitative, such as posturography. Using control models is one of the quantitative methods researchers have been used for more than three decades. Considering this and what have been done in the literature, the purpose of this research is to develop a balance assessment method in dynamic tasks, such as the... 

The use of microelectrode arrays in neural networks has offered a wonderful opportunity for evaluating numerous properties and interactions with excitable tissues such as the brain and spinal cord in the laboratory. In neural network applications, microelectrode arrays can be utilized to analyze nerve impulses or interact with neurons. They are either used to record neural data or to stimulate spinal cord nerves. Previous research has revealed that stimulating the spinal epidural region can help restore after spinal cord injuries (SCIs), which is the key to using them in the rehabilitation of living beings, including humans. According to the international campaign for the treatment of SCI...