Description of Research Expertise

My research is mainly in the area of robot-mediated rehabilitation. I am focused on the investigation and rehabilitation of dysfunction due to aging, neural disease, and neural injury. I am particularly interested in 1) exploring the relationships between brain plasticity and behavioral/motor control changes after robot-assisted interventions; 2)quantifying motor impairment and motor control of the upper limb in real world tasks such as drinking; and 3) defining the methods to maintain therapeutic effectiveness while administering local and remote, robot-mediated interventions.

I direct the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab. This is a new Lab within the Department of Physical, Medicine, and Rehabilitation in the Perelman School of Medicine. The Rehabilitation Robotics Lab mission is to use robotics,rehabilitation,and neuroscience techniques to translate research findings into the development of assistive and therapeutic rehabilitation robots capable of functioning in real-world rehabilitation environments. Our goal is to improve the quality of life and function on activities of daily living (ADLs) of our target population in supervised or under-supervised settings.

Keywords (in alphabetical order): Brain Plasticity, Design, Controls, Motor Control, Robotics, Rehabilitation, Stroke, Therapy, Upper Limb

Selected Publications

Johnson MJ, Mohan M, and Mendonca R: Therapist-Patient Interactions in Task-Oriented Stroke Therapy can Guide Robot-Patient Interactions. Int J of Soc Robotics : 2022.

Prosser, LA, Aguirre, MO, Zhao, S., Bogen, DK, Pierce, SR, Nilan, KA, Zhang, H, Shofer, FS, Johnson, MJ: Infants at risk for physical disability may be identified by measures of postural control in supine Pediatric Research 91 (5): 1215-1221,2022.

Mucchiani, C, Cacchione, P, Johnson, MJ, Mead, R, Yim, M: Deployment of a Socially Assistive Robot for Assessment of COVID-19 Symptoms and Exposure at an Elder Care Setting 30th IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN) : 1189-1195,2021 .

Hu, S, Mendonca, R, Johnson, MJ, Kuchenbecker, KJ: Robotics for Occupational Therapy: Learning Upper-Limb Exercises From Demonstrations IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 6 (4): 7781-7788,2021.

Espinoza Bernal, Victor C; Hiremath, Shivayogi V; Wolf, Bethany; Riley, Brooke; Mendonca, Rochelle J; Johnson, Michelle J;: Classifying and tracking rehabilitation interventions through machine-learning algorithms in individuals with stroke Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering 8 : 2021.

Stewart-Height, A, Koditschek, DE, Johnson, MJ: Reimagining robotic walkers for real-world outdoor play environments with insights from legged robots: a scoping review Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology : 1-21,2021.

Sobrepera, MJ, Lee, VG, Johnson, MJ: The design of Lil’Flo, a socially assistive robot for upper extremity motor assessment and rehabilitation in the community via telepresence Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering 8 : 2021.

Sobrepera MJ, Lee VG, Garg S, Mendonca R and Johnson MJ: Perceived Usefulness of a Social Robot Augmented Telehealth Platform by Therapists in the United States IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters 6 (2): 2946-2953,2021.

Hirsch T, Barthel M, Aarts P, Chen YA, Freivogel S, Johnson MJ, Jones TA, Jongsma MLA, Maier M, Punt D, Sterr A, Wolf SL, Heise KF.: A First Step Toward the Operationalization of the Learned Non-Use Phenomenon: A Delphi Study. Neurorehabil Neural Repair 11 : 2021.

Demofonti A, Carpino G, Zollo L, Johnson MJ: Affordable Robotics for Upper Limb Stroke Rehabilitation in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics 3 (1): 11-20,2021.

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Academic Contact Information

Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
1800 Lombard Street, 1st Floor, Office 9
Philadelphia, PA 19146
Phone: 215-893-2665