A. Michael West has been advancing the use of robots in health care through his research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The California native is a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, and his research in human motor control is currently being conducted at MIT’s Eric P. and Evelyn E. Newton Laboratory for Biomechanics and Human Rehabilitation under the supervision of Neville Hogan, the Sun Jae professor in mechanical engineering.

His focus is primarily on using robotics to help those who have lost mobility due to an orthopedic or neurological injury.

“I’m trying to understand how humans control and manage their movement from a mathematical standpoint,” West told MIT News. “If you have a way of quantifying the movement, then you can measure it better and implement that to robotics, to make better devices to help in rehabilitation.”

Since being awarded a Takeda fellowship as part of a joint initiative between MIT’s School of Engineering and Takeda Pharmaceuticals Company, West has dedicated his time to studying the hand’s ability — both conscious and unconscious — to manipulate objects and tools.

“How do people control these complex, subconscious systems? Understanding that is a slow-going process. … We won’t understand how humans control movement in my lifetime,” West explained.

Soon, West will be embarking on a new project that will focus more specifically on advancing human-robot interactions in the tech field as a fellow at MIT and the Accenture Convergence Initiative for Industry and Technology program.

“What they’re looking for is someone whose research is translational, that can have impacts in industry,” West said. “It’s promising that they’re interested in the basic, fundamental research I’m doing. I haven’t worked on the translational side yet. It’s something I’d like to get into after graduation.”

As previously reported by The Dallas Express, one biotech firm based in France recently gained federal approval for its AI-enabled ultrasound scanning technology.

The tech known as Sonio Detect could be a game-changer in detecting and diagnosing fetal anomalies. In its testing phase, it achieved an accuracy rate of 95% or more, whereas research suggests that birth defects are only detected by conventional prenatal ultrasounds half the time.

Such comprehensive assessments of the fetal heart and brain could help reduce fatalities linked to birth defects, which are currently responsible for 1 in 5 deaths in the first year of life.