An Untethered Ankle Exoskeleton Improves Walking Economy in a Pilot Study of Individuals With Cerebral Palsy

Lerner, Zachary F.; Gasparri, Gian Maria; Bair, Michael O.; Lawson, Jenny L.; Luque, Jason; Harvey, Taryn A.; Lerner, Andrea T.

doi:10.1109/tnsre.2018.2870756

Cited by 91 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…X. Zhou is with Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey, NJ 07102, US. A. Carriero [11][12][13], post-stroke individuals with paretic limbs [14], load carriers [15], children with cerebral palsy [16], and joggers [17]. Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spine-Inspired Continuum Soft Exoskeleton for Stoop Lifting Assistance

Yang

Huang

et al. 2019

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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Back injuries are the most prevalent work-related musculoskeletal disorders and represent a major cause of disability. Although innovations in wearable robots aim to alleviate this hazard, the majority of existing exoskeletons are obtrusive because the rigid linkage design limits natural movement, thus causing ergonomic risk. Moreover, these existing systems are typically only suitable for one type of movement assistance, not ubiquitous for a wide variety of activities. To fill in this gap, this paper presents a new wearable robot design approach continuum soft exoskeleton. This spineinspired wearable robot is unobtrusive and assists both squat and stoops while not impeding walking motion. To tackle the challenge of the unique anatomy of spine that is inappropriate to be simplified as a single degree of freedom joint, our robot is conformal to human anatomy and it can reduce multiple types of forces along the human spine such as the spinae muscle force, shear, and compression force of the lumbar vertebrae. We derived kinematics and kinetics models of this mechanism and established an analytical biomechanics model of human-robot interaction. Quantitative analysis of disc compression force, disc shear force and muscle force was performed in simulation. We further developed a virtual impedance control strategy to deliver force control and compensate hysteresis of Bowden cable transmission. The feasibility of the prototype was experimentally tested on three healthy subjects. The root mean square error of force tracking is 6. 63 N (3.3 % of the 200N peak force) and it demonstrated that it can actively control the stiffness to the desired value. This continuum soft exoskeleton represents a feasible solution with the potential to reduce back pain for multiple activities and multiple forces along the human spine.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spine-Inspired Continuum Soft Exoskeleton for Stoop Lifting Assistance

Yang

Huang

et al. 2019

IEEE Robot. Autom. Lett.

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“…This technique is now used for various applications, such as foot-type classification [ 91 ], insole design [ 92 ], and physical therapy [ 93 ]. Estimating the metabolic rate time profile could have applications within the same categories (diagnosis [ 94 ], targeted exercise therapy [ 95 ], and assistive device optimization [ 96 , 97 ]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences between joint-space and musculoskeletal estimations of metabolic rate time profiles

2020

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Motion capture laboratories can measure multiple variables at high frame rates, but we can only measure the average metabolic rate of a stride using respiratory measurements. Biomechanical simulations with equations for calculating metabolic rate can estimate the time profile of metabolic rate within the stride cycle. A variety of methods and metabolic equations have been proposed, including metabolic time profile estimations based on joint parameters. It is unclear whether differences in estimations are due to differences in experimental data or due to methodological differences. This study aimed to compare two methods for estimating the time profile of metabolic rate, within a single dataset. Knowledge about the consistency of different methods could be useful for applications such as detecting which part of the gait cycle causes increased metabolic cost in patients. Here we compare estimations of metabolic rate time profiles using a musculoskeletal and a joint-space method. The musculoskeletal method was driven by kinematics and electromyography data and used muscle metabolic rate equations, whereas the joint-space method used metabolic rate equations based on joint parameters. Both estimations of changes in stride average metabolic rate correlated significantly with large changes in indirect calorimetry from walking on different grades showing that both methods accurately track changes. However, estimations of changes in stride average metabolic rate did not correlate significantly with more subtle changes in indirect calorimetry due to walking with different shoe inclinations, and both the musculoskeletal and joint-space time profile estimations did not correlate significantly with each other except in the most downward shoe inclination. Estimations of the relative cost of stance and swing matched well with previous simulations with similar methods and estimations from experimental perturbations. Rich experimental datasets could further advance time profile estimations. This knowledge could be useful to develop therapies and assistive devices that target the least metabolically economic part of the gait cycle.

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“…These diseases cause chronic discomfort in daily behavior and walking, and they pose a potential risk of causing unexpected situations such as falling while in motion or other accidents in daily life. As a result, there is a growing need to develop walking-assisting technologies for the disabled [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. To implement these platforms, the development of skin-attachable and stretchable sensors for detecting and monitoring muscle signals involved in ambulation is essential ( Figure 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wireless Epidermal Electromyogram Sensing System

et al. 2020

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Massive efforts to build walking aid platforms for the disabled have been made in line with the needs of the aging society. One of the core technologies that make up these platforms is a realization of the skin-like electronic patch, which is capable of sensing electromyogram (EMG) and delivering feedback information to the soft, lightweight, and wearable exosuits, while maintaining high signal-to-noise ratio reliably in the long term. The main limitations of the conventional EMG sensing platforms include the need to apply foam tape or conductive gel on the surface of the device for adhesion and signal acquisition, and also the bulky size and weight of conventional measuring instruments for EMG, limiting practical use in daily life. Herein, we developed an epidermal EMG electrode integrated with a wireless measuring system. Such the stretchable platform was realized by transfer-printing of the as-prepared EMG electrodes on a SiO2 wafer to a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer substrate. The epidermal EMG patch has skin-like properties owing to its unique mechanical characteristics: i) location on a neutral mechanical plane that enables high flexibility, ii) wavy design that allows for high stretchability. We demonstrated wireless EMG monitoring using our skin-attachable and stretchable EMG patch sensor integrated with the miniaturized wireless system modules.

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An Untethered Ankle Exoskeleton Improves Walking Economy in a Pilot Study of Individuals With Cerebral Palsy

Cited by 91 publications

References 35 publications

Spine-Inspired Continuum Soft Exoskeleton for Stoop Lifting Assistance

Spine-Inspired Continuum Soft Exoskeleton for Stoop Lifting Assistance

Differences between joint-space and musculoskeletal estimations of metabolic rate time profiles

Wireless Epidermal Electromyogram Sensing System

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