Robot mimics traditional Chinese massage techniques for therapeutic use

In recent years, roboticists have developed a wide range of systems that could eventually be introduced in health care and assisted living facilities. These include both medical robots and robots designed to provide companionship or assistance to human users.

Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology recently developed a robotic system that could give human users a massage that employs traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) techniques. This new robot, introduced in a paper on the arXiv preprint server, could eventually be deployed in health care, wellness and rehabilitation facilities as additional therapeutic tools for patients who are experiencing different types of pain or discomfort.

“We adopt an adaptive admittance control algorithm to optimize force and position control, ensuring safety and comfort,” wrote Yuan Xu, Kui Huang, Weichao Guo and Leyi Du in their paper. “The paper analyzes key TCM techniques from kinematic and dynamic perspectives and designs robotic systems to reproduce these massage techniques.”

The robotic system developed by the researchers consists of two jaka zhu7 robotic arms, each with a multi-functional massage hand installed at their extremity. This mechanical massage hand resembles a human hand in shape and size.

The hand has four modes of operation, designed to replicate different TCM massage techniques based on ancient principles, such as the concept of zang-fu organs and meridians. Its four operation modes are powered by a palm-punch, a vibration, a kneading and a finger technique function module.

The palm-punch function entails performing palm massages by spreading the fingers on a user’s back and fist massages by clenching them into a fist. The vibration function utilizes a motor to simulate high-frequency vibrations, such as those employed during vibration-based massages.

The kneading function module utilizes a kneading motor that allows the thumb to pinch a user’s skin in conjunction with the other four fingers on the hand, producing a kneading massage. Finally, the finger technique function allows the robot to perform other finger-based massages.

“We adopted a compliance control algorithm based on adaptive admittance control, aiming to optimize force and position control to address challenges such as patient posture changes and muscle stiffness differences, ensuring the safety and comfort of the massage process,” wrote Xu, Huang and their colleagues.

“Furthermore, combining massage techniques, this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of several typical massage methods from the kinematic and dynamic perspectives, designs corresponding mechanical massage hands, and uses robotic technology to replicate and automate these traditional techniques.”

The researchers first collected demonstration data from expert TCM massage therapists using a motion capture system called Optitrack and a massage strength measuring instrument called ZTC-II. This data was then used to train machine learning algorithms that controlled and planned the actions of their robotic massage system.

“Through the introduction of these technologies, this paper provides theoretical support and practical guidance for the robotic implementation of massage techniques, promoting the integration of traditional Chinese massage with modern robotics, and opening up new application prospects for assistive therapeutic methods,” wrote Xu, Huang and their colleagues.

The researchers tested a prototype of their system by running a real-world experiment, assessing its ability to effectively replicate different TCM massage techniques. They found that the robot successfully and effectively reproduced four massage techniques: beat, press, push and vibrate.

In the future, the robot could be improved and tested in therapeutic settings to evaluate its performance and explore how human users respond to it. In addition, this recent study could inspire other research teams to create automated massage systems, perhaps replicating other massage styles for relaxation or rehabilitation.

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