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Queen’s Cinq à Sept Research Talks: You can’t fix what you can’t see!

Posted on Apr 26, 2022

With thanks to Queen’s Faculty of Health Sciences for this post.

Video featuring Dr. Stephen Scott

Dr. Stephen Scott
Professor, Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences (cross appointed to the Department of Medicine) 
Incoming Vice Dean Research for Queen’s Health Sciences

Dr. Scott stars in the role of researcher – and inventor – in this exploration of the impact of his robot, Kinarm, which is changing the way we understand the brain. The groundbreaking robot allows researchers to perform clinical testing to assess a broad range of brain functions including motor skills, perception, memory, and decision making.

Trained in systems designs engineering, and with a background in physiology, Dr. Scott has combined two areas of expertise into something incredible. Kinarm is used to assess neurological impairments related to stroke, MS, ALS, Transient Ischemic Attacks, Parkinson’s disease, kidney dialysis, and more.

Dr. Scott holds the GSK Chair in Neuroscience and has won several awards for innovative research. He is widely respected in Canada as a forward thinker and a team researcher, with a huge number of collaborations across disciplines; you’ll see why through his Research Talk.

Watch now »

Events Calendar

Posted on Aug 11, 2020

We’re back in the swing of things and looking forward to engaging with you at these upcoming meetings!

Upcoming MeetingsDateLocationBooth Number
KUEL: Gaze-TrackingFebruary 10, 2022On-line 
ASNRMarch 31 – April 2, 2022St Louis, MOTBD
Neural Control of Movement July 25 – 29, 2022 Dublin, IrelandTable #
Neuroscience 2022 (SfN Annual Meeting)November 13-16, 2022San Diego, CA#TBD
Brainbox Initiative Annual ConferenceTBDVirtual#TBD

 

Junior Software Developer

Posted on Jun 20, 2022

Kinarm is seeking an energetic junior software developer to join our stellar team. 

Kinarm’s interactive robotics are changing the way researchers study the brain, and our understanding of brain injury and disease.  Our one-of-a-kind products are designed, manufactured and shipped around the world – all from our headquarters located in historic Kingston, Ontario.  We are looking for someone who loves to work as part of a small, wickedly talented team and who is willing to attack any challenge.

 The Role

The self-motivated and organized candidate will be an essential member of our team, involved in every aspect of the development process. Working in compliance of IEC 62304, you will be responsible for implementation, and debugging on all of our software products. Our products cover a broad range of applications, including:

  • Hardware control: real-time control of Kinarm™ robots and other advanced technology during experimental tasks;
  • Data acquisition: definition of experimental tasks and protocols, and collection of data in lab and clinical settings;
  • Data analysis: creation of automated analyses for our Kinarm Standard Tests product suite requiring sophisticated analytical methods and attention to detail.

This is a unique position that blends technical responsibility, growth potential, and the opportunity to facilitate the translation of cutting-edge brain research to advance the care of persons suffering brain injury and disease.

Required Experience:

  • Software development with Java, Python, C/C++ or other mainstream language – 3+ years

Experience Assets:

A portfolio of experience demonstrating:

  • Proven ability to define and deliver quality results at each stage of the development process.
  • High level of imaginative problem solving, troubleshooting and debugging ability.
  • High level of curiosity, creativity, tenacity, and thoughtfulness.
  • Ability to follow and provide instructions as both a team member and individual.
  • Ability to learn quickly and be comfortable when something is unfamiliar or things become uncertain.
  • Strong initiative and communication skills.
  • Experience with MATLAB, real-time software development, statistics, and/or robotics an asset, but not required.
  • Experience in software development for medical devices and an understanding of medical device compliance landscape an asset, but not required.

 

Required Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree from four-year college or university in Computer Science or Engineering.

 

Job Type: Full-time

Job Location: Kingston, ON

Start Date: Immediate

Apply via our post in Indeed.  Applicants will be considered as soon as received.  Salary and benefits will be commensurate with experience.

Kinarm is committed to employment equity, welcomes diversity in the workplace and encourages applications from people with disabilities. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.

Technical Bulletin: Kinarm Gaze-Tracker; Impact of Reducing the Number Calibration Targets

Posted on Feb 8, 2022

Abstract:

The 13-point calibration routine for the Kinarm Gaze-Tracker is slow, and often difficult to achieve a good subject calibration with, often requiring multiple calibration attempts. Two factors contribute to these problems: the large number of target locations used in the calibration routine and the large size of the region over which the calibration is performed. This study quantified the effects on calibration accuracy when each of these factors was reduced. The results show that reducing the number of targets from 13 to 5 has a small impact on calibration accuracy (1.0±0.6° vs 1.1±0.7°) while significantly reducing the total time for the calibration routine. Further, reducing the size of the 5-point calibration region from 100% to 70% had only a marginal increase in uncertainty (1.2±0.9°). It is recommended that for most Kinarm users a 5-point calibration routine will save time without sacrificing the quality of the collected data.

Read More

Randomization Bug in Dex 3.8 & 3.9

Posted on Dec 7, 2021

Please be advised that if you are running a custom task program in 3.8.x or 3.9.x that there is a randomization bug in the Block Table if square brackets are used in the TP List (i.e. TP List in the Block Table = 10-15, [1, 2, 3]) and List Reps or Block Reps are > 1. Round brackets in the TP List are not affected by this issue. If List Reps and Block Reps are 1 then there is no problem.

Any TPs listed inside square brackets will always be randomized to the same order for a given block. The randomized order will be different each time the task is run.

While the bug will be fixed in an upcoming release, we wanted to provide immediate notice to all potential users as the bug is difficult to detect.

To workaround the bug, manually repeat the TP List as many times as required.

If you need to randomize TP List = 5, [1,2,3], List Reps = 2, Block Reps = 2 then instead use:

TP List = [5, [1,2,3]], [5, [1,2,3]], [5, [1,2,3]], [5, [1,2,3]], List Reps = 1, Block Reps = 1

Our thanks to the lab in Calgary who spotted the bug and reported it to us.

Advisory re bug in NI-6229 Block of TDK 3.9 *Corrected*

Posted on Aug 5, 2021

*Update* Advisory has been corrected with the release of Dexterit-E 3.9.1

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————Advisory posted 18-Jun-21, re bug in the NI-6229 block

  • The bug affects those sending out digital out pulses only AND running MATLAB R2019b
  • Analog output is not affected.
  • This bug will be fixed with 3.9.1 expected early July 2021.
  • The workaround is to unlink the Sync TTL block, copy the BKIN 6229 DO block inside it and use that instead.
  • Please contact support@kinarm.com if you need help with the workaround.

Ref: CC-1205