Biomedical Electronics takes a stride at the British Science Festival with smart clothing

Aaron page presented his research at the British Science Festival on 11th September. Aaron, a PhD student in the Department of Biomedical Electronics working with supervisor Chris Freeman, spoke to leading journalists about his work developing smart clothing that can help people with impaired movement. He is combining functional electrical stimulation and soft robotics to address impaired walking.

“The principle focuses around artificially activating peoples own muscles, because commonly, they remain healthy even though they can’t be activated by the individuals own nervous system due to impairment. We support this movement with variable stiffness soft robotic materials and pneumatic artificial muscle bubbles. This technology is expected to potentially improve the quality of life of over 3 million people worldwide who live with neurological impairments caused by Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy and many other neurological impairments.”

This is part of a multi-partner project funded by EPSRC. Aaron’s work appeared in The Financial Times, The i, The Mail Online, The Guardian, The Metro, The Telegraph, The Times, The BBC News, E&T and many more!

“The biggest problems facing humanity are more and more consistently requiring interdisciplinary responses. The right trousers project has given us the opportunity to work alongside others who are at the cutting edge of their own fields, allowing technology that would not have been possible within the isolation of our own individual areas, to be developed.” - Aaron Page