Higa Hiroki

写真a

Title

Professor

Researcher Number(JSPS Kakenhi)

60295300
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Current Affiliation Organization 【 display / non-display 】

  • Concurrently   University of the Ryukyus   Graduate School of Engineering and Science   Electrical and Electronics Engineering   Professor  

  • Concurrently   University of the Ryukyus   Graduate School of Engineering and Science   Interdisciplinary Intelligent Systems Engineering   Professor  

  • Duty   University of the Ryukyus   Faculty of Engineering   School of Engineering_Electrical and Systems Engineering Program   Professor  

  • Concurrently   University of the Ryukyus   Graduate School of Engineering and Science   Electrical Energy and Systems Control Engineering   Professor  

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Academic degree 【 display / non-display 】

  • Tohoku University -  Doctor of Engineering

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External Career 【 display / non-display 】

  • 2006.04
    　
    　

    University of the Ryukyus, Faculty of Engineering, Associate Professor  

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Research Interests 【 display / non-display 】

  • Biomedical Engineering

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Research Areas 【 display / non-display 】

  • Life Science / Medical systems

  • Life Science / Rehabilitation science

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Research Theme 【 display / non-display 】

  • Assistive Robot for People with Physical Disabilities of the Extremities

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Published Papers 【 display / non-display 】

  • Robotic Arm System for Assisting Persons with Physical Disabilities to Drink Water

    Shotaro Gushi, Yuto Shimabukuro, Hiroki Higa

    proc. of ICIIBMS2024     2024.11 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

    Type of publication: Research paper (international conference proceedings)

    　View Summary

    This paper presents a robotic arm system for the purpose of assisting persons with physical disabilities to drink water. We have developed a seven-degree-of-freedom robotic arm with a thermoplastic polyurethane hand. We also implemented functions of an object detection with YOLOv5 algorithm and a user’s mouth detection based on MediaPipe machine learning platform in the proposed system. Firstly, tasks of grasping and moving each detected object (a paper cup or a plastic bottle) to the mouth of a user were conducted to evaluate the system. Secondly, tasks of grasping the plastic bottle laid down on an experimental table and letting it stand on the table were carried out. From the experimental results, it was found that the object detection and the detection of the user’s mouth were successfully performed, and that the success rates of these tasks were 80 % and more.

  • Effects of Visual Assist Signals on Unilateral Spatial Neglect and Its Measurement

    Takashi Ishida, Hiroki Higa

    IEEJ Trans. on Electonics, Information and Systems ( IEEJ )  144 ( 9 ) 901 - 910   2024.09 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

    Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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    In this study, visual assist signals of unilateral spatial neglect (USN) were created from Kinsbourne's hypothesis and implemented in an inspection system. While conventional inspection is a fixed view of the patient's ability, the developed system enables measurement of a variation in the ability of USN patients with and without visual assist signals. Experimental results using the developed system showed that visual assist signals could alleviate USN and other attention-disorder behaviors but that it is necessary to select visual assist signals according to the patient's symptoms. In addition, the difference between the presence and absence of the visual assist signal made it possible to measure and visualize zone of proximal development, which had been treated conceptually. In the future, it is expected that the developed visual assist signals implemented in augmented reality (AR) devices will improve the daily activities of USN patients.

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  • Attempted movement classification of spinal cord injured patients using hybrid CNN-LSTM networks

    K. Shrestha, Md.A. Rahman, P.K. Saha, M.A. Rashid, H. Higa

    Int. J. Imaging Syst. Technol. ( Wiley )  34   2024.05 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

    Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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    Individuals who are suffering from the most severe of motor disabilities can improve their quality of life by controlling and directing mechanical and electronic devices. As for Spinal Cord Injured (SCI) patients', attempted hand movements can be classified using electroencephalography (EEG). The research aims to develop a hybrid CNN-LSTM (Convolutional Neural Network—Long Short Term Memory) architecture for multichannel EEG sig nal classification. It is a challenging task to classify real-world multichannel EEGdata from SCI patients. The proposed research preprocessed the EEG data to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and arranged for them to extract additional information from the data. The preprocessing step includes filtering, downsampling, and artifact removal, while the postprocessing step includes time-frequency representation and spatial information encoding. A hybrid CNN-LSTM is used for feature extraction and classification. The proposed method has been implemented on a dataset consisting of 5 different classes of attempted hand movements from 10 SCI patients. The average classification accuracy of 92.36% is achieved for 5-class classification. To check the global validity of the proposed network, the BCI competition IV data is classified by the proposed method and has found 92.70% overall accuracy.

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  • Development of a Virtual Reality System that Generates Prism Adaptation for Multiple Motor Units

    Takashi Ishida, Hiroki Higa

    IEEJ Transactions on Electronics, Information and Systems ( IEEJ )  143 ( 12 ) 1170 - 1179   2023.12 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

    Type of publication: Research paper (scientific journal)

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    Conventionally, the adaptive body area for prism adaptation (PA) has been limited to the visible range of prism glasses, especially the unilateral upper limbs. In this study, we developed a virtual reality system that extends PA's adaptive body range. This system sets the visible area of the target and introduces a symbolic representation of the body position to realize a head position adaptation task. As a result, the head position adaptation task generates PA not to individual body parts but to a collection of multiple motor units, such as the upper trunk. Furthermore, experimental results in healthy subjects showed that the head position adaptation task could generate PA in the entire upper trunk and displace it to the left anteriorly. Therefore, the head position adaptation task is expected to be effective for the postural correction of USN patients with upper trunk deviated to the right posteriorly. Moreover, the developed system has potential applications in a wide range of fields, such as detecting cerebellar disorders.

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  • Educational effectiveness of cardiopulmonary resuscitation using the Virtual Reality first aid training system with nursing students

    Mariko Oshiro, Tomoharu Genka, Hiroki Higa, Gen Ouchi, Sayuri Jahana

    proc. of 2023 AAPINA conference     2023.08 [ Peer Review Accepted ]

    Type of publication: Research paper (international conference proceedings)

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    Nursing students have been trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR); however, there is no objective evaluation index, and they lack confidence in their CPR skills. To examine the educational significance of simulation education on CPR using the VR emergency training system, seven students performed CPR on two occasions. In the group discussion, students were able to visualize the technique, such as being able to grasp the status of chest compressions over time. The use of the VR emergency training system for the actual practice of CPR was useful for visualizing the technique, enabling students to learn in an enjoyable and proactive manner, and for reflecting on knowledge and skills. In the future, nursing students should collaborate and utilize the VR emergency life-saving training system in the classroom.

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Other Papers 【 display / non-display 】

  • Dringking Water Task by Robotic Arm Using Depth Camera, 2nd Report

        2023.12

     

  • An Online Healthcare Training System, 2nd Report

        2023.12

     

  • Development of A Medical Device Training Simulator, 2nd Report

        2023.12

     

  • Development of A Medical Device Training Simulator

        2023.12

     

  • Drinking Water Task Using a Robotic Arm

        2023.12

     

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Presentations 【 display / non-display 】

  • A Data Conversion for Medical Training System

    Mohamed Atef Mahmoud Mostafa Khalil, Ryosuke Umeda, Yuji Uehara, and Hiroki Higa

    電気学会九州支部沖縄支所講演会論文集  2016.12  -  2016.12 

  • Improvement of Implantable Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) System

    Mayumi Nishiyama and Hiroki Higa

    電気学会九州支部沖縄支所講演会論文集  2012.12  -  2012.12 

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Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 【 display / non-display 】

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SDGs 【 display / non-display 】

  • 生体医工学

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Social Activity 【 display / non-display 】

  • 2020.12
    　
    　

  • 2020.03
    　
    　

  • 2020.02
    　
    　

  • 2019.12
    　
    　

  • 2019.11
    　
    　

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Media Coverage 【 display / non-display 】

  • はえばる福祉まつり出展

    南風原町  南風原町文化センター  2018.11

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    南風原町文化センターにて開催されたはえばる福祉まつりに研究室で開発した「サンシン演奏支援装置」を出展し、来場者に紹介、実演を行った。

  • プチ・オープン・ラボ

    琉球大学工学部  2013.8

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    地域の小学生を研究室に招待し、研究室で行っている研究活動を紹介し、実演を行った。また参加者に実験等の体験を行ってもらった。

  • はえばる福祉まつり出展

    南風原町  南風原町文化センター  2012.11

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    南風原町文化センターで開催されたはえばる福祉まつりに、研究室で開発した福祉機器を出展し、来場者に実演・説明を行った。

  • 沖縄産学官イノベーションフォーラムでのパネル展示

    沖縄県工業技術センター  2009.11

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    沖縄産学官イノベーションフォーラムにおいて研究紹介パネル展示を行った。

  • 親子サイエンスツアー

    オリオンビール  2007.10

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    オリオンビール名護工場で開催された親子サイエンスツアーに出展し、研究成果物の紹介とデモンストレーションを行った。

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Academic Activities 【 display / non-display 】

  • （ 県立武道館アリーナ棟 ）

    2013.10
    　
    　

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    沖縄の産業まつりにおいて、研究成果物の出展とデモンストレーションを行った。

  • （ 国立病院機構沖縄病院 ）

    2010.11
    　
    　

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    国立病院機構沖縄病院において開催された文化祭において研究紹介を行い、研究成果物のデモンストレーションを行った。

  • （ 県立武道館アリーナ棟 ）

    2007.10
    　
    　

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    那覇市で開催された沖縄の産業まつりに出展し、研究成果物の実演・説明を行った。

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