Overview
Background
Dr. Alejandro Melendez-Calderon has an interdisciplinary background in robotics and biomedical engineering with extensive experience in human augmentation technologies used in medicine (robotics, wearable devices) and computational approaches to understand human neuromuscular control (unimpaired, stroke and SCI population). He has over 19 years of experience gained in academic, clinical and industrial environments.
He leads the NeuroEngineering, Rehabilitation and Medical Robotics Lab at UQ, and is currently a Senior Lecturer within the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering and the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (affiliate) at the University of Queensland (Australia; Jan 2020-present). He is also a Principal Research Fellow at the Jamieson Trauma Institute, Queensland Health (Australia, Jun 2022-present).
Work experience | Clinical - He was previously a Senior Research Scientist and acting Head of Technology at the cereneo Advanced Rehabilitation Institute / cereneo Center for Neurology and Rehabilitation (Switzerland; 2017-2019), where he led and conducted research in the area of neuromechanics of movement deficits after stroke. He was also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Northwestern University (USA; 2014-2020) and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab (formerly Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) (2012-2013), where he conducted research in cross-modal multisensory interactions and assessment of neuromuscular impairments. Medical industry - He led the areas of Robotic Hand Rehabilitation and Assessments, and work on adaptive control of robotic trainers (arm and legs) at Hocoma AG (Switzerland; 2014-2016), one of the world-leading manufacturers of robotic and wearable technologies for rehabilitation. Academic research - He was a Guest Researcher at ETH Zurich (Switzerland; 2016-2019), where he conducted research in biomechanics and motor control/learning. He received his PhD degree from Imperial College London (UK; 2007-2011) for research in robotics, rehabilitation and human motor control.
Interests | Dr. Melendez-Calderon has a scientific interest in understanding principled mechanisms of human behavior, in particular related to movement control/learning and physical interaction; his technical interests are in robotics and computational modeling for medical diagnostics, assistive applications & (bio)medical education.
Availability
- Dr Alejandro Melendez-Calderon is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, Imperial College London
Research interests
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Neurorehabilitation engineering
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Human sensorimotor control & learning
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Medical robotics
Works
Search Professor Alejandro Melendez-Calderon’s works on UQ eSpace
2023
Conference Publication
Towards visual-tactile integration of shoulder and hand using immersive virtual reality
Cardoso, Lucas R. L., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Bochkezanian, Vanesa, Forner-Cordero, Arturo and Bo, Antonio P. L. (2023). Towards visual-tactile integration of shoulder and hand using immersive virtual reality. 45th Annual International Conference of the IEEE-Engineering-in-Medicine-and-Biology-Society (EMBC), Sydney, NSW Australia, 24-27 July 2023. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340578
2023
Journal Article
Assessing walking ability using a robotic gait trainer: opportunities and limitations of assist-as-needed control in spinal cord injury
Maggioni, Serena, Lünenburger, Lars, Riener, Robert, Curt, Armin, Bolliger, Marc and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2023). Assessing walking ability using a robotic gait trainer: opportunities and limitations of assist-as-needed control in spinal cord injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 20 (1) 121, 1-22. doi: 10.1186/s12984-023-01226-4
2023
Journal Article
Competition increases the effort put into a physical interaction task
Takagi, Atsushi, Bagnato, Carlo, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Jarrassé, Nathanaël, Ganesh, Gowrishankar and Burdet, Etienne (2023). Competition increases the effort put into a physical interaction task. IEEE Transactions on Haptics, 16 (4), 719-725. doi: 10.1109/toh.2023.3306794
2022
Journal Article
Comparing algorithms for assessing upper limb use with inertial measurement units
Subash, Tanya, David, Ann, ReetaJanetSurekha, StephenSukumaran, Gayathri, Sankaralingam, Samuelkamaleshkumar, Selvaraj, Magimairaj, Henry Prakash, Malesevic, Nebojsa, Antfolk, Christian, SKM, Varadhan, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2022). Comparing algorithms for assessing upper limb use with inertial measurement units. Frontiers in Physiology, 13 1023589, 1-13. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1023589
2022
Conference Publication
Continuous gait phase recognition and prediction using LSTM network across walking speeds and inclinations
Lu, Linjun, Liu, Siyu, Zhou, Zhiyong, Sun, Jiantao, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Guo, Zhao (2022). Continuous gait phase recognition and prediction using LSTM network across walking speeds and inclinations. 7th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics, Guilin, China, 9-11 July 2022. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/icarm54641.2022.9959678
2022
Journal Article
Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions
Cardoso, Lucas R. L., Bochkezanian, Vanesa, Forner-Cordero, Arturo, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Bo, Antonio P. L. (2022). Soft robotics and functional electrical stimulation advances for restoring hand function in people with SCI: a narrative review, clinical guidelines and future directions. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 19 (1) 66, 1-24. doi: 10.1186/s12984-022-01043-1
2022
Conference Publication
Challenges in adaptive robot-assisted gait training: the balancing act of minimizing assistance while preserving safety
Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Maggioni, Serena (2022). Challenges in adaptive robot-assisted gait training: the balancing act of minimizing assistance while preserving safety. 5th International Conference on Neurorehabilitation (ICNR2020), Virtual, 13-16 October 2020. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-70316-5_7
2021
Journal Article
A framework for sensor-based assessment of upper-limb functioning in hemiparesis
David, Ann, Subash, Tanya, Varadhan, S. K.M., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2021). A framework for sensor-based assessment of upper-limb functioning in hemiparesis. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 15 667509, 667509. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.667509
2021
Journal Article
Estimating movement smoothness from inertial measurement units
Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Shirota, Camila and Balasubramanian, Sivakumar (2021). Estimating movement smoothness from inertial measurement units. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 8 558771, 558771. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.558771
2020
Journal Article
The dominant limb preferentially stabilizes posture in a bimanual task with physical coupling
Takagi, A., Maxwell, S., Melendez-Calderon, A. and Burdet, E. (2020). The dominant limb preferentially stabilizes posture in a bimanual task with physical coupling. Journal of Neurophysiology, 123 (6), 2154-2160. doi: 10.1152/jn.00047.2020
2019
Journal Article
Home rehabilitation supported by a wearable soft-robotic device for improving hand function in older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial
Radder, Bob, Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Kottink, Anke I.R., Holmberg, Johnny, Sletta, Kristin, van Dijk, Manon, Meyer, Thomas, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2019). Home rehabilitation supported by a wearable soft-robotic device for improving hand function in older adults: a pilot randomized controlled trial. PLoS ONE, 14 (8) e0220544, e0220544. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220544
2019
Journal Article
Technology-aided assessments of sensorimotor function: current use, barriers and future directions in the view of different stakeholders
Shirota, Camila, Balasubramanian, Sivakumar and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2019). Technology-aided assessments of sensorimotor function: current use, barriers and future directions in the view of different stakeholders. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 16 (1) 53, 53. doi: 10.1186/s12984-019-0519-7
2019
Conference Publication
A framework for closing the loop between human experts and computational algorithms for the assessment of movement disorders
Jarrett, Christopher, Shirota, Camila, McDaid, Andrew, Piovesan, Davide and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2019). A framework for closing the loop between human experts and computational algorithms for the assessment of movement disorders. IEEE 16th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Toronto, ON, Canada, 24-28 June 2019. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779458
2019
Conference Publication
The effect of skill level matching in dyadic interaction on learning of a tracing task
Kager, Simone, Hussain, Asif, Cherpin, Adele, Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Takagi, Atsushi, Endo, Satoshi, Burdet, Etienne, Hirche, Sandra, Ang, Marcelo H. and Campolo, Domenico (2019). The effect of skill level matching in dyadic interaction on learning of a tracing task. IEEE 16th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), Toronto, ON, Canada, 24-28 June 2019. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779485
2018
Journal Article
An adaptive and hybrid end-point/joint impedance controller for lower limb exoskeletons
Maggioni, Serena, Reinert, Nils, Lünenburger, Lars and Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro (2018). An adaptive and hybrid end-point/joint impedance controller for lower limb exoskeletons. Frontiers Robotics AI, 5 (OCT) 104. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00104
2018
Conference Publication
Reference trajectory adaptation to improve human-robot interaction: a database-driven approach
Haufe, F. L., Maggioni, S. and Melendez-Calderon, A. (2018). Reference trajectory adaptation to improve human-robot interaction: a database-driven approach. 2018 40th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), Honolulu, HI, United States, 18-21 July 2018. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers . doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2018.8512604
2018
Journal Article
Feasibility of a wearable soft-robotic glove to support impaired hand function in stroke patients
Radder, Bob, Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Kottink, Anke I. R., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2018). Feasibility of a wearable soft-robotic glove to support impaired hand function in stroke patients. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 50 (7), 598-606. doi: 10.2340/16501977-2357
2017
Journal Article
Transfer of dynamic motor skills acquired during isometric training to free motion
Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Tan, Michael, Bittmann, Moria Fisher, Burdet, Etienne and Patton, James L. (2017). Transfer of dynamic motor skills acquired during isometric training to free motion. Journal of Neurophysiology, 118 (1), 219-233. doi: 10.1152/jn.00614.2016
2017
Conference Publication
Applying a soft-robotic glove as assistive device and training tool with games to support hand function after stroke: preliminary results on feasibility and potential clinical impact
Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B., Radder, Bob, Kottink, Anke I. R., Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro, Buurke, Jaap H. and Rietman, Johan S. (2017). Applying a soft-robotic glove as assistive device and training tool with games to support hand function after stroke: preliminary results on feasibility and potential clinical impact. International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), London, United Kingdom, 17-20 July 2017. Piscataway, NJ, United States: IEEE Computer Society. doi: 10.1109/ICORR.2017.8009444
2017
Conference Publication
User acceptance of a therapeutic system that enables hand training exercises in a motivating environment
Radder, B., Prange-Lasonder, G. B., Kottink, A. I.R., Gaasbeek, L., Holmberg, J., Melendez-Calderon, A., Buurke, J. H. and Rietman, J. S. (2017). User acceptance of a therapeutic system that enables hand training exercises in a motivating environment. 3rd International Conference on NeuroRehabilitation (ICNR2016), Segovia, Spain, 18-21 October 2016 . Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-46669-9_204
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Alejandro Melendez-Calderon is:
- Available for supervision
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Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
Upper-limb assessment of neuromuscular impariments using robotics and computer vision
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Sandy Brauer
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Doctor Philosophy
Neuroprosthesis for restoring grasping function using noninvasive electrical stimulation
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo
Media
Enquiries
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