Gait training assist system of a lower limb prosthetic visualizing muscle activation pattern using a color-depth sensor

Some unilateral lower-limb amputees load the intact limb more than the prosthetic limb. This can cause chronic pains, fatigue, lumbago, and joint diseases, including knee osteoarthritis. To avoid and counteract these symptoms it is necessary to improve their asymmetric gait. Increasing the function of the hip abductor muscle is important to maintaining symmetrical weight distribution. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a training assist system, which estimates and visualizes an abductor muscle by using a color-depth sensor. To estimate the muscle activation, first, the floor reaction force is calculated using a simple dynamic model. Then, the hip torque is calculated using joint angles. The floor reaction force and, the muscle length are calculated based on a human musculoskeletal model. Muscle activity is estimated by these parameters. Evaluation experiments of this proposed method were performed on healthy persons and unilateral trans femoral amputees, and the effectiveness of this proposed algorithm has been confirmed.