J. M. Font-Llagunes
ABSTRACT
The paper deals with the mechanical design of a new active stance-control knee-ankle-foot orthosis (SCKAFO). The orthosis is intended to provide gait assistance for incomplete spinal cord injured patients that present functional hip muscles, but partially denervated knee and ankle muscles. It consists of a passive compliant joint that constrains ankle plantar flexion, along with a powered knee unit that prevents knee flexion during stance and controls flexion-extension during swing. For this purpose, the knee joint incorporates a controllable mechanical locking system and an electrical DC motor that actuate independently. The prototype is equipped with different sensors (plantar sensors and angular encoders) for control purposes. They are used to identify the main events defining the gait phases and to provide feedback measurements for the motor control system.
- Yakimovich, T., Lemaire, E. D., and Kofman, J. 2009. Engineering desing review of stance-control knee-ankle-foot orthoses. J Rehab. Research & Development 46, 257--267.Google Scholar
Cross Ref
- Dollar, A. M., and Herr, H. 2008. Lower extremity exoskeletons and active orthoses: challenges and state-of-the-art. IEEE T Robotics 24, pp 1--15. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Romkes, J., and Brunner, R. 2002. Comparison of a dynamic and a hinged ankle--foot orthosis by gait analysis in patients with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Gait & Posture 15, 18--24.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Kaufman, K., Irby, S., Mathewson, J., Wirta, R., and Sutherland, D. 1996. Energy-efficient knee-ankle-foot orthosis: A case study. J Prosthetiscs & Othotics 8, 79--85.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Yakimovich, T., Lemaire, E., and Kofman, J. 2006. Preliminary kinematic evaluation of a new stance-control knee--ankle--foot orthosis. Clinical Biomechanics 21, 1081--1089.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Blaya, J., and Herr, H. 2004. Adaptive control of a variable-impedance ankle-foot orthosis to assist drop-foot gait. IEEE T Neural Systems & Rehab. Engineering 12, 24--31.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Quintero, H. A., Farris, R. J., and Goldfarb, M. 2011. Control and Implementation of a Powered Lower Limb Orthosis to Aid Walking in Paraplegic Individuals. In Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. on Rehab. Robotics (Zurich, Switzerland, June 29 -July 01, 2011), 953--958.Google Scholar
- Kawamoto, H., and Sankai, Y. 2002. Power assist system HAL-3 for gait disorder person. Lec. Notes Comp. Science 2398, 19--29.Google Scholar
- Sawicki, G., and Ferris, D. 2009. A pneumatically powered knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) with myoelectric activation and inhibition. J NeuroEngineering & Rehabilitation 6, 6--23.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Alonso, J., Romero, F., Pàmies-Vilà, R., Lugrís, U., and Font-Llagunes, J. M. 2011. A simple approach to estimate muscle forces and orthosis actuation in powered assisted walking of spinal cord-injured subjects. In Proc. EUROMECH Coll. 511 Biomechanics of Human Motion (Ponta Delgada, Azores, March 09--12, 2011).Google Scholar
Index Terms
- A powered lower limb orthosis for gait assistance in incomplete spinal cord injured subjects
Recommendations
Beyond Fun: Players’ Experiences of Accessible Rehabilitation Gaming for Spinal Cord Injury
ASSETS '21: Proceedings of the 23rd International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and AccessibilityRehabilitation gaming—play of digital games that incorporate rehabilitation exercises—is a well-known and broadly applicable way to make physical rehabilitation more fun. It can motivate patients with spinal cord injury to engage in exercises that they ...
Biomechanical design of an agile, electricity-powered lower-limb exoskeleton for weight-bearing assistance
This paper proposes the design of an electricity-powered lower-limb exoskeleton called Human Universal Mobility Assistance (HUMA). HUMA was developed as a research platform with the objective of providing its wearer with weight-bearing assistance for ...
Design of an Optimal 4-bar Mechanism Based Gravity Balanced Leg Orthosis
In this paper we propose the design and control of a 4-bar mechanism based gravity balanced orthosis for providing gait training to persons with disability. Human leg joints have a varying instantaneous centre of rotation and hence 4-bar mechanisms have ...
Comments