MRI: Acquisition of a Caplex System for Human Movement Research and Research Training

This Major Research Instrumentation award supports acquisition of a Humotech Caplex system for use by faculty researchers and students studying human movement biomechanics assessment across three departments at the University of Dayton: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Health and Sports Science, and Physical Therapy. The Caplex system is a wearable device emulator that allows for deeper scientific understanding of the ways humans react to devices that apply controlled forces to locations such as the waist, leg, and/or arm.

Research facilitated by the Caplex system will directly contribute to improved wearable assistive devices, therapeutic approaches, and rehabilitation for people with movement impairments. The Caplex system will be integrated with the existing biomechanics equipment that measures human motion and forces. The Caplex system enables significant efforts in advancing state-of-the-art scientific research in human movement assessment, training of interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate researchers, and human movement assessment education.

The Humotech Caplex system supports research and research training activities for eight interdisciplinary faculty engaged in human movement biomechanics assessment at the University of Dayton. The Caplex system enables controllable external forces to integrate with the existing standard human movement equipment (e.g., motion capture, force plates, electromyography).

These external forces are exerted on a human subject using lightweight, tethered attachments, and so the system is often referred to as a ‘wearable device emulator’. More generally, it is an instrument that can be used as a means for scientifically reproducible experimental force or perturbation analyses. The Caplex system will enable innovative research in the broad theme of human motor control by validating mathematical representations and computational simulations through experimental human-in-the-loop performance studies.

In the broad theme of human impairment assessment, this instrumentation will enable advanced scientific studies on human performance deficits with respect to age, developmental disabilities, neurological disorders, or injuries through the ability to estimate capacities and task performance via quantifiable force interactions. Thus, the Caplex system would be a major improvement in existing facilities at the University of Dayton since it would be the only commercial instrumentation that provides such controllable external forces to conduct advanced human movement assessment studies on campus.

The Caplex system will directly enhance our ability to engage a diverse range of students and the larger community in our work through demonstrations, hands-on experiences, and translational research outcomes.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.