Motion assistance apparatus enabled for neuro-rehabilitation of patients and for the promotion of exercise for the elderly

Tanaka, Eiichirou; Niwa, Ryosuke; Osawa, Keisuke; Nakajima, Kenji; Muramatsu, Keiichi; Watanuki, Keiichi; Saegusa, Shozo; Yuge, Louis

doi:10.1109/aim.2015.7222659

Cited by 16 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Using our designed aid devices designed, the equipped foot can be raised automatically through the neural pathway of human stretch reflex. Our findings confirmed that our device could effectively improve the gait of the user (Tanaka et al, 2015a(Tanaka et al, , 2015b. This walking assistance device had two modes: an all-round mode and a walking mode.…”

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confidence: 82%

Development of a torque limiter for the gear of an assistive walking device

Zhuang

Nagayoshi

Kondo

et al. 2017

JAMDSM

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Wearable assistive devices have been receiving considerable attention in academic circles. To make these devices efficient, we need additional research on the service lives of the mechanical elements used in these devices. The wearers of these devices frequently encounter unexpected movements that lead to motor failure in the devices. The purpose of this study is to develop an overload protection mechanism using a torque limiter, which can eliminate the overload torque delivered in the reverse direction to effectively prevent the device from breaking and ensure the safety of the user. To improve the service life of assistive walking devices, we designed a sandwich mechanism for the final gear of the servo motor. We made the material from rubber and configured it between a pair of circular plates. The surface tractive force delivered the required torque. When the surface load exceeded the maximum friction force, the circular plates slipped and protected the device. In this paper, we implement a torque limiter and prove its durability by performing experiments using two circular plate designs, one with grooves type and another without grooves type. We also use various materials to assess the applicability of the assistive walking device. The findings indicate that the with grooves type gives better torque performance; it achieves the same rated torque as the servo motor. Thus, this study recommends that with grooves type is particularly suitable for the elderly who require high assistive power. On the other hand, without grooves type is suitable for users who employ the device for extended periods because this type has an excellent service life. Our experiment proves that the torque limiter that we developed can withstand the load torque over 300 times for situations involving the loss of balance such as stumbling and slipping. Finally, we experimentally validate the improvement of walking performance by using this torque limiter. investigated ways for supporting the elderly and people with disabilities by using an exoskeleton to walk, climb stairs, and carry things around. Saglia et al. (2009) used a rehabilitation robot to enable the ankle to perform plantar/dorsiflexion and inversion/eversion by using a parallel mechanism. Sankai (2010) developed an assistive device for people who suffered from muscular weakness. ReWalk TM (Esquenazi, 2012) aimed to help people who suffered from serious spinal cord injuries to regain their activities of daily living. Sanz-Merodio et al. (2014) developed lower-limb exoskeletons that helped paralyzed children walk. The tibialis anterior muscle is the muscle that is most prone to fatigue during human walking. Consequently, we have developed various assistive devices that focus on assisting the ankle joint during the walking movement. Using our designed aid devices designed, the equipped foot can be raised automatically through the neural pathway of human stretch reflex. Our findings confirmed that our device could effectively improve the gait of the user (Tanaka et al., 2015a(Tanak...

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confidence: 82%

Development of a torque limiter for the gear of an assistive walking device

Zhuang

Nagayoshi

Kondo

et al. 2017

JAMDSM

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“…To address this problem, we developed a walking assistance apparatus using a flexible shaft (Ikehara, et al, 2010). This walking assistance apparatus can raise the user's leg utilizing stretch reflex to bi-articular muscle of the user by only assisting ankle joint (Tanaka, et al, 2015). By using this apparatus, medical doctors confirmed the effectiveness (Kimura, et al, 2013) (Magaki, et al, 2015).…”

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confidence: 90%

Walking assistance apparatus enabled for neuro-rehabilitation of patients and its effectiveness

Tanaka

Muramatsu

Watanuki

et al. 2015

Mechanical Engineering Letters

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We developed a walking assistance apparatus which can be used for neuro-rehabilitation of patients. This apparatus assists only the ankle joints of the equipped person while walking. The apparatus attaches the motor on the waist of the equipped person and the flexible shaft transmits the torque of the motor to the self lock less worm gear on the ankle joint. By using this apparatus, the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the ankle joint of the equipped patients could be increased while walking. Therefore, the heel contact could be recovered and stumbling could be prevented. Furthermore, the length of the stride of the equipped patients was increased and the posture was raised according to gait training with the apparatus. We found that this apparatus can improve the gait of the equipped person while walking.

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