Category: Presentation

Swenson Day

Each year in Spring, the Department of PM&R holds the Annual James R. Swenson, MD, Scientific Symposium. The Symposium, referred to as "Swenson Day," is in recognition of the founding Chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dr. James R. Swenson (November 18, 1933-October 11, 2014), pictured above with a patient. The purpose of the symposium is to encourage the research mission of the department by highlighting recent research produced by department faculty, residents and students. The symposium also brings in external speakers on topics relevant to the department’s research activities. Two graduate students from the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab presented at the 2022 Swenson Day. Connor Olsen, ECE, gave a presentation titled "Electromyographically Controlled Prosthetic Wrist Improves Dexterity and Reduces Compensatory Movements" and Monika Buczak, BME, gave a presentation titled "EGG: A Quantitative Assessment of Hand Dexterity."

Dr. George highlighted to Utah Health Partners

Health care is changing, and University of Utah Health is leading the way—thanks to our many donors. Ongoing support and partnerships from the University of Utah Health Partners enabled us to extend the highest quality of care to thousands of Utahns, train the next generation of providers, and make groundbreaking discoveries.

As a large academic medical center set within the thriving University of Utah campus, U of U Health is uniquely positioned to tackle complex issues in our society. With scientists down the hall from health care providers and across campus from scholars in diverse fields, we bring interdisciplinary groups together. When we combine their broad scientific expertise with the large clinical footprint of our health system, we benefit our community, the nation, and the world.

Research is an increasingly important pillar of what we do to advance science and medicine. University of Utah Health’s research funding doubled in less than a decade, reaching $428 million in 2021, with 3,249 active projects.

Dr. George is one of the pioneering research at the University of Utah, and in his recent video presentation he tells us about the impact of his work in his own words. We hope that you will enjoy his passion and enthusiasm for research, and we look forward to future events celebrating our shared mission at U of U Health!

Multiple Awards at the Utah Biomedical Engineering Conference!

Today we had six poster presentations and one podium presentation at the Annual Utah Biomedical Engineering Conference! We had presentations from:

  • Marshall Trout (FIRST-PLACE PODIUM PRESENTATION!): Improved Mirror-Therapy: Reanimation of Fine Motor Function Using Low-Cost Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Driven by Synchronized Bilateral Movements
  • Caleb Thomson (FIRST-PLACE POSTER PRESENTATION!): Proportional Electromyographic Control of a Bionic Arm in a Participant with Chronic Hemiparesis, Muscle Spasticity, and Impaired Range of Motion
  • Monika Buczak: Instrumented Egg: Developing a Quantitative Assessment Tool of Hand Dexterity
  • Connor Olsen: Electromyographically Controlled Prosthetic Wrist Improves Dexterity and Reduces Compensatory Movements
  • Abby Citterman (THIRD-PLACE POSTER PRESENTATION!): A Universal, Low-Cost Transradial Socket for Validating New Myoelectric Prosthetic Control Strategies
  • Aidan Lethaby: A Low-Cost Portable and Intuitive Control System for Assistive Robotic Devices
  • Abby Harrison: Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation of the Wrist Evokes Sensations from the Fingers

Dr. George featured in TED-style talk to U-Health donors

In 2019, Dr. George and fellow researchers at the U made waves with the "LUKE Arm" (named after the robotic hand given to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back), a prosthetic arm that has the ability to feel objects by transmitting the appropriate signals to the brain. Not only can the arm feel, but it can be controlled by the user's thoughts. In this 2021 TED-style talk, Dr. George talks about the advances that have taken place since the their breakthrough was first announced.

Visit with the Utah NeuroRobotics Lab at BMES, IEEE EMBC and SFN!

The Utah NeuroRobotics Lab will be giving several presentations at upcoming conferences this Fall. Stop by and check out our lab's research and network with our awesome team! We will be at the Biomedical Engineering Society, Engineering Medicine & Biology, as well as the Society for Neuroscience.

Biomedical Engineering Society, Orlando, FL, October 6-9

  • Abby Citterman, Podium Presentation: "Low Frequencies Improve Intensity Discrimination for Electrocutaneous Artificial Sensory Feedback"
  • Troy Tully, Podium Presentation: "Mirrored Training with Larger Datasets Improves Motor-Decode Performance for Myoelectric Prosthetic Control with Neural Networks"
  • Caleb Thomson, Podium Presentation: "Recurrent Neural Networks Provide More Stable Across-Day Prosthetic Control"

IEEE Engineering Medicine & Biology, Virtual, October 31 – November 4

  • Taylor Hansen, Podium Presentation: "A Bionic Hand for Semi-Autonomous Fragile Object Manipulation via Proximity and Pressure Sensors"
  • Caleb Thomson, Podium Presentation: "A Recurrent Neural Network Provides Stable Across-Day Prosthetic Control for a Human Amputee with Implanted Intramuscular Electromyographic Recording Leads"

Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, November 8-16

  • Troy Tully, Poster Presentation, "Mirror Training Improves Offline-Decode Performance for Multi-DOF Myoelectric Prosthetic Control"
  • Marshall Trout, Poster Presentation, "Improved Mirror-Therapy: Reanimation of Fine Motor Function Using Low-Cost Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Driven by Synchronized Bilateral Movements"

Congratulations to our wonderful student presenters!

Two Papers Accepted at IEEE EMBC

Two papers from the NeuroRobotics Lab were accepted at the 2021 43rd Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society! The first paper, authored by graduate student Caleb Thomson, is titled "A Recurrent Neural Network Provides Stable Across-Day Prosthetic Control for a Human Amputee with Implanted Intramuscular Electromyographic Recording Leads." The second paper, authored by graduate students Taylor Hansen and Marshall Trout, is titled "A Bionic Hand for Semi-Autonomous Fragile Object Manipulation via Proximity and Pressure Sensors." The papers will be presented virtually at the annual conference between October 31 – November 4, 2021.