A collaboration among the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and 3 other federal agencies aims to accelerate the development of the next generation of robotics, called corobotics. These projects include robots that help engineers better design prosthetic legs for patients with amputation, miniature robot pills that help doctors diagnose and treat disease, and microrobots that help researchers make artificial tissues.

Along with the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States Department of Agriculture, NIH will find 6 projects over the next 4 years. The projects are expected to receive $4.4 million in funding.

In addition to the below-knee prostheses project, 2 other projects have implications for the physical therapy profession. The goal of Control of Powered Segmented Legs for Humanoids and Rehabilitation Robotics is to uncover the principles behind the biomechanical design and neuromuscular control of human legs in a variety of gaits and to transfer these principles to the design and control of powered leg prostheses and robotic rehabilitation devices.

Another proposal, titled Brain Machine Interface Control of a Therapeutic Exoskeleton, plans to combine a human-robot interface with a noninvasive brain-machine to allow the patient to use his or her thoughts to control the movement of the robot to better rehabilitate the upper limb affected by stroke.