Abstract
Powered ankle-foot orthosis can not only prevent foot-drop and assist patients’ walking but also improve the ankle joint movement for patients with dysfunction caused by the various injuries and nervous system diseases. Common ankle rehabilitation devices limit the ankle injury patients’ rehabilitation training within fixed places, so a portable powered ankle-foot orthosis is presented in this paper to enable the patients to continue their work normally with the treatment. The orthosis employs electric motor drive mode to provide ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion assistance during patient’s walking. First, the ankle-foot dynamics model is established and the gait is analyzed for the powered ankle-foot orthosis system. Then, a new mechanical structure including wearing parts, analogous ankle joint and transmission is described. For the small installation space between the instep and the knee, the compact transmission mechanism has been given more attention and the finite element method is adopted to optimize the key structure after the force analysis. In addition, the closed-loop control system is chosen for the orthosis position and speed control. At last, wearing and movement experiments on the prototype are carried out, which validates the stability and rationality of the structure design and the effectiveness of the motion control. It has great significance in promoting patient's rehabilitation to help them return to the society.
Highlights
The technologies of rehabilitation robots are mainly promoted by the increasing demands from vulnerable people, such as the elderly and the disabled
By the comprehensive comparison of various powered ankle-foot orthosis (P-Ankle foot orthosis (AFO)) in driving modes, actuators and power transmission ways, a lightweight, portable and front P-AFO providing ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion assistance for ankle rehabilitation with motor-drive mode is presented in this paper to overcome the weakness of the common ankle rehabilitation devices limiting the patients within fixed places and to enable the patients to continue their normal work with it
The ankle-foot model and the curves of angle variations of ankle joint plantar-dorsiflexion have a vital influence on the transmission mode and motor selection, and motor position and speed control
Summary
The technologies of rehabilitation robots are mainly promoted by the increasing demands from vulnerable people, such as the elderly and the disabled. For evaluation of the portability, the P-AFOs driven by electrical motors with a series elastic actuator were developed by Herr et al [3, 17] from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ward et al [18] at Arizona State University They provide plantardorsiflexion torque by the adjustable impedance. By the comprehensive comparison of various P-AFOs in driving modes, actuators and power transmission ways, a lightweight, portable and front P-AFO providing ankle dorsiflexion and plantar flexion assistance for ankle rehabilitation with motor-drive mode is presented in this paper to overcome the weakness of the common ankle rehabilitation devices limiting the patients within fixed places and to enable the patients to continue their normal work with it.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
