DEMO: Dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) for the restoration of facial movements

Facial paralysis is a highly burdening condition, resulting in a patient’s inability to move his musculature on one or both sides of the mouth. The restoration of facial movement is crucial for enhancing the overall patients’ quality of life. The use of DEAs is proposed as a less invasive approach for dynamic facial reanimation. This demonstration illustrates the use of DEA artificial muscles for facial reanimation with an anatomically precise skull setup and a silicone-based tissue model of human facial skin (Figure 1). The setup integrates a DEA prosthesis for smiling and blinking movement restoration. Computer vision and deep learning are used to detect the facial movements of a person using a camera, and the resulting signal is processed to control a high voltage power supply and operate the DEA prosthesis in real time.