ERI: Soft Robotic Musculoskeletal Manipulation for Pain Reduction

NSF Award Search · 01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT · $200,000 · view on nsf.gov ↗

Abstract

The opioid crisis is a national health emergency and has led to a six-fold increase in drug overdoses over the past 25 years. Opioid pain medications are very addictive; thus, the CDC recommends non-pharmacological approaches as the first course of action for pain management. Chronic musculoskeletal pain affects over 40 percent of US citizens. Musculoskeletal manipulation has proven effective at treating many types of pain but requires a human to perform costly, labor-intensive therapy. This Engineering Research Initiation (ERI) grant will support fundamental research in the development of soft robotic devices that can be pneumatically actuated to perform musculoskeletal manipulation for targeted pain relief. The human-robot interaction required for such therapy involves a large amount of physical contact; therefore, safety becomes a large design requirement. Current humanoid rigid robots can perform a variety of tasks. However, this ability to generalize gives them the freedom to be unsafe for physically therapeutic applications. This research aims to produce highly constrained, targeted soft devices with mechanical safety limits that are individually customized to each individual’s anatomy and pain pathologies which may range from back pain to arthritis to post-stroke hand spasticity. Besides the societal impact of pain reduction, this research will contribute to fundamental advances in soft robotic design, scalable customization, soft additive manufacturing, flexible elect

Key facts

NSF award ID
2502197
Awardee
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ)
SAM.gov UEI
JJ6CN5Y5A2R5
PI
Jacqueline K Libby
Primary program
01002526DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
All programs
RESEARCH INITIATION AWARD, WOMEN, MINORITY, DISABLED, NEC, HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION
Estimated total
$200,000
Funds obligated
$200,000
Transaction type
Standard Grant
Period
09/01/2025 → 08/31/2027