Pneumatic Interactive Gait Rehabilitation Orthosis: Design and Preliminary Testing

Motor rehabilitation techniques based on passive movement of the lower limbs have been developed over the past 15 years. Gait training automation is the latest innovation in these techniques. This paper describes the design and development of a pneumatic interactive gait rehabilitation orthosis (PIGRO), as well as the first experimental results obtained with healthy subjects. PIGRO consists of a modular and size-adaptable exoskeleton, pneumatic actuation systems for the six actuated degrees of freedom (DoF), and a control unit. The foot orthosis and ankle actuation can be removed and/or replaced with orthopaedic shoes so as to permit gait rehabilitation while advancing between parallel bars with ground contact and partial body weight support (i.e. not walking in place). Control logic provides closed-loop position control independently on each joint, with position feedback for each joint in real time. Imposed curves are physiological joint angles: it is also possible to choose between activating one or both legs and to modify curves to obtain different gait patterns if required. The paper concludes with a presentation of experimental results for the device's performance.

[1]  Daniel P. Ferris,et al.  Mechanics and energetics of level walking with powered ankle exoskeletons , 2008, Journal of Experimental Biology.

[2]  Kimitaka Nakazawa,et al.  Robotic gait trainer in water: Development of an underwater gait-training orthosis , 2008, Disability and rehabilitation.

[3]  Yijian Zhang,et al.  A Review of exoskeleton-type systems and their key technologies , 2008 .

[4]  R. Riener,et al.  Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation Open Access Biofeedback for Robotic Gait Rehabilitation , 2022 .

[5]  H. van der Kooij,et al.  LOPES: selective control of gait functions during the gait rehabilitation of CVA patients , 2005, 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. ICORR 2005..

[6]  H. Barbeau.  Locomotor Training in Neurorehabilitation: Emerging Rehabilitation Concepts , 2003, Neurorehabilitation and neural repair.

[7]  M. Morari,et al.  Robotic Orthosis Lokomat: A Rehabilitation and Research Tool , 2003, Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society.

[8]  R. Bernhardt,et al.  STRING-MAN: Wire-robot technology for safe, flexible and human-friendly gait rehabilitation , 2007, 2007 IEEE 10th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics.

[9]  Daniel P Ferris,et al.  Locomotor adaptation to a powered ankle-foot orthosis depends on control method , 2007, Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation.

[10]  K. Kikuchi,et al.  Development of externally powered lower limb orthosis with bilateral-servo actuator , 2005, 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. ICORR 2005..

[11]  Hong Xia,et al.  Development of Legs Rehabilitation Exercise System Driven by Pneumatic Muscle Actuator , 2008, 2008 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering.

[12]  Jack Crosbie,et al.  Does spasticity contribute to walking dysfunction after stroke? , 1998, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[13]  M. Hallett.  Neuroplasticity and rehabilitation. , 2005, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[14]  Daniel P. Ferris,et al.  Learning to walk with a robotic ankle exoskeleton. , 2007, Journal of biomechanics.

[15]  Nikolaos G. Tsagarakis,et al.  Development and Control of a ‘Soft-Actuated’ Exoskeleton for Use in Physiotherapy and Training , 2003, Auton. Robots.

[16]  D. Lefeber,et al.  Design and control concepts of an exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation , 2008, 2008 2nd IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics.

[17]  G.S. Sawicki,et al.  Powered lower limb orthoses: applications in motor adaptation and rehabilitation , 2005, 9th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, 2005. ICORR 2005..

[18]  Zhen Zhang,et al.  Biomechanical design of the powered gait orthosis , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO).

[19]  Darwin G. Caldwell,et al.  Joint motion control of a powered lower limb orthosis for rehabilitation , 2006, Int. J. Autom. Comput..

[20]  N. Costa,et al.  Control of a Biomimetic "Soft-actuated" 10DoF Lower Body Exoskeleton , 2006, The First IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, 2006. BioRob 2006..

[21]  Alfred D. Grant.  Gait Analysis: Normal and Pathological Function , 2010 .

[22]  H. van der Kooij,et al.  Design and Evaluation of the LOPES Exoskeleton Robot for Interactive Gait Rehabilitation , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering.

[23]  Homayoon Kazerooni,et al.  Dynamic behavior of pneumatic systems for lower extremity extenders , 2002, Proceedings 2002 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.02CH37292).

[24]  A Meghdari,et al.  Feedback control of the neuromusculoskeletal system in a forward dynamics simulation of stair locomotion , 2009, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine.

[25]  Ying Chen,et al.  A Novel DGO Based on Pneumatic Exoskeleton Leg for Locomotor Training of Paraplegic Patients , 2008, ICIRA.

[26]  S. Hesse,et al.  A mechanized gait trainer for restoring gait in nonambulatory subjects. , 2000, Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation.

[27]  Jinwu Qian,et al.  Preliminary Experiments on Physiological Gait Movement of the Powered Gait Orthosis , 2008, 2008 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering.

[28]  Aaron M. Dollar,et al.  Lower Extremity Exoskeletons and Active Orthoses: Challenges and State-of-the-Art , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[29]  Monica A. Daley,et al.  A Physiologist's Perspective on Robotic Exoskeletons for Human Locomotion , 2007, Int. J. Humanoid Robotics.

[30]  V. Dietz,et al.  Treadmill training of paraplegic patients using a robotic orthosis. , 2000, Journal of rehabilitation research and development.

[31]  Daniel P Ferris,et al.  Neuromechanical adaptation to hopping with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis. , 2006, Journal of applied physiology.

[32]  Ulf Holmberg,et al.  Ankle-Foot-Orthosis Control in Inclinations and Stairs , 2008, 2008 IEEE Conference on Robotics, Automation and Mechatronics.

[33]  B. Dobkin.  An Overview of Treadmill Locomotor Training with Partial Body Weight Support: A Neurophysiologically Sound Approach Whose Time Has Come for Randomized Clinical Trials , 1999 .

[34]  C H Yu,et al.  Design and implementation of robust controllers for a gait trainer , 2009, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part H, Journal of engineering in medicine.

[35]  Judith M Burnfield,et al.  The role of biomechanics in orthopedic and neurological rehabilitation. , 2008, Acta of bioengineering and biomechanics.

[36]  David J. Reinkensmeyer,et al.  A robotic device for manipulating human stepping , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[37]  Sunil Kumar Agrawal,et al.  A Powered Leg Orthosis for Gait Rehabilitation of Motor-Impaired Patients , 2007, Proceedings 2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

[38]  Bram Vanderborght,et al.  An exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation: Prototype design and control principle , 2008, 2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.