The CIM is a mechanical engineering research laboratory run by Dr. Michael Goldfarb at Vanderbilt University. The lab focuses on the design and control of electromechanical devices, with a particular emphasis on the emerging field of rehabilitation robotics.

Current projects include a powered, multi-degree-of-freedom prosthetic arm, a powered exoskeleton for gait restoration in spinal-cord injured victims and stroke rehabilitation, and a powered transfemoral prosthesis that enhances mobility and reduces falls for lower-limb amputees.

Researchers from the Center for Intelligent Mechatronics are currently involved in clinical evaluations of a lower limb gait restoration exoskeleton.  The Vanderbilt Exoskeleton is a powered robotic device that is designed to restore legged mobility to the spinal cord injured population.  The system developed by Michael Goldfarb, Hugo Quintero, and Ryan Farris (pictured), weighs just 27 pounds and has been developed to provide walking, stand-to-sit transitions, sit-to-stand transitions, and stair ascent and descent.  Michael Gore, a T10 complete paraplegic, is shown testing the device.  “You can't believe how much you miss it until you can't do it,” Gore said. Clinical testing is being performed at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and locally at Shepherd Center's Beyond Therapy facility in Franklin, TN.