Motion controlled gait enhancing mobile shoe for rehabilitation

Abstract

Walking on a split-belt treadmill, which has two belts that can be run at different speeds, has been shown to improve walking patterns post-stroke. However, these improvements are only temporarily retained once individuals transition to walking over ground. We hypothesize that longer-lasting effects would be observed if the training occurred during natural walking over ground, as opposed to on a treadmill. In order to study such long-term effects, we have developed a mobile and portable device which can simulate the same gait altering movements experienced on a split-belt treadmill. The new motion controlled gait enhancing mobile shoe improves upon the previous version’s drawbacks. This version of the GEMS has motion that is continuous, smooth, and regulated with on-board electronics. A vital component of this new design is the Archimedean spiral wheel shape that redirects the wearer’s downward force into a horizontal backward motion. The design is passive and does not utilize any motors. Its motion is regulated only by a small magnetic particle brake. Further experimentation is needed to evaluate the long-term after-effects.

Developing a Gait Enhancing Mobile Shoe to alter over-ground walking coordination

“…The second version [19] also generated the backward motion passively, but by using a magnetic particle brake and a microcontroller circuit. The brake controlled the damping in the shoe to mimic changes in force and direction typically observed during the respective gait cycle phase.…”

“…The GEM Shoe presented in this paper is the successor of previous versions [12][19]. The first GEMS [12] was passive, but had no control of the backward foot motion.…”

“…Although it moved the wearer’s foot backward, it did so in a jerky and fairly unpredictable motion comparable to sliding on ice or a slippery surface. The second GEMS [19] provided a smooth motion by controlling the generated horizontal motion. However, because of the various motion controls, this version ended up being too high off the ground and too heavy for actual subject testing.…”

Kinetic Shapes: Analysis, Verification, and Applications

“…The GEMS [4,5] is a novel device developed for lower limb rehabilitation, specifically asymmetric gait. The GEMS mimics a split-belt treadmill, that imposes different velocities on each tread, that is used in gait rehabilitation.…”

“…While the physical form of the AS is applicable in many disciplines, such as fluid compression [2] or microbiology [3], it is found to be attractive to mechanical designs where passive rolling or force redirection is desired. Such a design is the gait enhancing mobile shoe (GEMS) [4,5] for gait rehabilitation of individuals with neurological disorders such as stroke. The GEMS mimics a split-belt treadmill (a treadmill with two independently controlled treads) by pushing the individual's foot backward as they step onto the shoe with ASshaped wheels.…”