Soft Robotics for Rehabilitation Engineering and other Medical Applications

ABSTRACT

In this talk, I will discuss my research in robotics for medical applications. In particular, I am focused on soft robotics for physical Human-Robot Interaction, where active devices are in prolonged physical contact with the human body. I will discuss the design and fabrication pipeline I developed for soft pneumatic actuators, including CAD design, finite element modeling, 3d printing, casting, multipart fabrication, pneumatic actuation, and static and dynamic experimental analysis. I will discuss my incorporation of deep learning-based computer vision techniques for continuum shape estimation and motion tracking of organic shapes. In complement to soft robotic actuation, I will discuss my work in biosensing, namely in machine learning on biosensors placed on the skin's surface. I will also touch upon my doctoral work in machine learning and multimodal sensor fusion for mobile field robotics, and how I will use this experience to build translatable systems for fielded clinical applications. I will discuss my interests in future collaboration with BME colleagues, surrounding the topics of biomedical imaging, biomechanical modeling, and smart materials.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Jacqueline Libby is an Assistant Professor at Stevens in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Libby has an interdisciplinary background, with expertise in Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Robotics, Machine Learning, and Rehabilitation Engineering. She received her B.Sc. from Brown University in Computer Science and her M.Sc. from Carnegie Mellon University in Mechanical Engineering. She earned her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, with a focus on field robotics. Dr. Libby was awarded a two-year fellowship for her post-doctorate research from NYU's Center for Urban Science and Progress. This fellowship enabled her to pursue her interest in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of engineering and rehabilitation medicine. Now at Stevens, she directs the Robotic Systems for Health Lab, where she works with a dynamic, interdisciplinary team of PhD, Masters, and Undergraduate Students. She has also taught graduate- and undergraduate-level courses in Applied Machine Learning and Software Engineering Design. She hopes to combine her background in soft robotics, mechanical design, machine learning, robotic perception, biosensing, and software engineering to build fully integrated systems that are ready for clinical translation.