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Stability analysis of paraplegic standing while wearing an orthosis

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An Erratum to this article was published on 13 September 2006

Abstract

Paraplegics can maintain a standing posture, called the “C-posture”, while wearing an orthosis. The significant feature of the C-posture is that the body’s center of mass is located behind the hip joint. In this study, we investigate the C-posture mechanism and assess the relationship between posture and stability, the aim being to restore standing function. We first measured the standing postures of paraplegic subjects wearing an orthosis. The subjects maintained the standing posture for 30 s. Next, assuming the C-posture to be an equilibrium attractor in the musculoskeletal system, we used a dynamic model of the musculoskeletal system to analyze the relationship between posture and stability, and also to assess the influence of ankle stiffness. We calculated the standing posture on the basis of a return map. The calculated standing postures show some features of the C-posture. The stability analysis revealed that, despite a limitation in the range of stable postures, the C-posture is more stable than the postures of normal people. The results suggest that although the C-posture is an appropriate posture for paraplegic standing, sufficient ankle stiffness and an appropriate alignment of ankle angle are necessary and preventing hip flexion movements is desirable.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Professors E. Saitoh and M.D. K. Onogi of the Fujita Health University and assistant Professor N. Fukumura of Toyohashi University of Technology for their valuable advice on our study. This study was supported by The New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and the 21st Century COE Program “Intelligent Human Sensing” from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences and Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohokuku, Yokohama-shi, 223-8522, Japan

    Takahiro Kagawa

  2. Department of Information and Computer Sciences, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku-cho, Toyohashi-shi, 441-8580, Japan

    Takahiro Kagawa & Fukuda Hiroshi

  3. Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya-shi, 464-8603, Japan

    Uno Yoji

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  1. Takahiro Kagawa
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  2. Fukuda Hiroshi
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  3. Uno Yoji
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Correspondence to Takahiro Kagawa.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0108-3

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Kagawa, T., Hiroshi, F. & Yoji, U. Stability analysis of paraplegic standing while wearing an orthosis. Med Bio Eng Comput 44, 907–917 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0087-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-006-0087-4

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