Joint motion control of a powered lower limb orthosis for rehabilitation

Costa, N, Bezdicek, M, Brown, M, Gray, JO, Caldwell, DG and Hutchins, S 2006, 'Joint motion control of a powered lower limb orthosis for rehabilitation' , International Journal of Automation and Computing, 3 (3) , pp. 271-281.

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Abstract

Many patients with spinal injures are confined to wheelchairs, leading to a sedentary lifestyle with secondary pathologies and increased dependence on a carer. Increasing evidence has shown that locomotor training reduces the incidence of these secondary pathologies, but the physical effort involved in this training is such that there is poor compliance. This paper reports on the design and control of a new “human friendly” orthosis (exoskeleton), powered by high power pneumatic Muscle Actuators (pMAs). The combination of a highly compliant actuation system, with an intelligent embedded control mechanism which senses hip, knee, and ankle positions, velocity, acceleration and force, produces powerful yet inherently safe operation for paraplegic patients. This paper analyzes the motion of ankle, knee, and hip joints under zero loading, and loads which simulate human limb mass, showing that the use of “soft” actuators can provide a smooth user friendly motion. The application of this technology will greatly improve the rehabilitative protocols for paraplegic patients.

Item Type:	Article
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > R Medicine > R Medicine (General) Subjects / Themes > Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA075 Electronic computers. Computer science Health and Wellbeing Subjects outside of the University Themes
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society > Centre for Health Sciences Research
Journal or Publication Title:	International Journal of Automation and Computing
Publisher:	Springer
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	14768186
Depositing User:	H Kenna
Date Deposited:	09 Jan 2009 14:53
Last Modified:	27 Aug 2021 22:04
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/1005

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