About the Project
Everyday activities such as eating, drinking, grooming and using a phone can become demanding for people with advanced cancer when pain, fatigue and weakness affect arm movement. EASE-Arm will develop a compact, non-wearable upper-limb support that uses passive mechanisms to provide adjustable weight relief while allowing users to move their arm freely.
Aim: Develop and evaluate a sensor-informed passive upper-limb support that reduces perceived effort during meaningful everyday activities while preserving comfort and voluntary movement.
Objectives: Co-design requirements with patients, carers and professionals. Design and build a compact table-mounted prototype with adjustable support and easy disengagement. Integrate load and motion sensing with activity and symptom information to generate interpretable recommendations for personalised settings through accessible patient, carer and therapist interfaces. Compare unsupported, standard-support and personalised-support conditions in laboratory testing using measures of movement, muscle activity and perceived effort. Evaluate feasibility, comfort, task completion, assistance needs, acceptability and usability in palliative care. Explore a chair-mounted proof of concept and requirements for later bedside use.
Working across mechanical engineering and palliative care at the University of Leeds, the student will develop skills in co-design, prototyping, biomechanics, sensing and mixed-methods evaluation, and contribute evidence for future assistive technology in advanced illness.
Funding Notes
A highly competitive EPSRC Doctoral Landscape Award (DLA) providing full academic fees, together with a tax-free maintenance grant at the standard UKRI rate (currently £21,805 in academic session 2026/27) for 3.5 years and rising annually, in line with standard UKRI rates. Training and support will also be provided. This opportunity is open to UK applicants only.
