Abstract
A simulation based study of a completely new form of body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) technique which is fully passive in nature is presented in this paper. The approach does not require any powered means at the lower limbs and is implemented using a combination of coordinated joint locking/unlocking and flexible torque transfer mechanisms. The hip extension pertaining to the stance phase of the gait cycle is achieved through the stance foot being literally dragged by the treadmill belt while the required manoeuvring of the trunk is expected to be accomplished by the voluntary arm-support from the subject. The swing phase, on the other hand, is initiated through appropriately coupling the swing knee with the contralateral extending hip and eventually achieve full knee extension through switching the treadmill speed to a lower value. Considering adequate support from the able arms, the process effectively turns the frictional force at the foot-treadmill belt interface into an agent causing the required whole body mechanical energy fluctuation during the gait cycle.The simulation platform consists of a dynamic planer (sagittal) full body humanoid model along with the treadmill model developed within a CAD based software environment interfaced with passive viscoelastic joint properties implemented in Simulink. The voluntary upper body effort as well as control of the gait cycle are also developed within MATLAB/Simulink environment. The gait cycle generated using the new concept is thoroughly investigated through this simulation study.
Highlights
Body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has been found to elicit electromyographic (EMG) activity in lower extremity muscles that have little or no voluntary movement leading to a recovery of the over-ground walking ability in some people
Step like EMG activity has been observed in subjects with a complete spinal cord injury (SCI) during body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) [1]
The proposed method of fully passive gait cycle generation can potentially be implemented in the form of a wearable hip-knee-ankle-foot orthosis (HKAFO) with controllable on/off brake at the knee and flexible torque transfer mechanism between the contralateral hip and knee mounted on it
Summary
Body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has been found to elicit electromyographic (EMG) activity in lower extremity muscles that have little or no voluntary movement leading to a recovery of the over-ground walking ability in some people. Despite its proven efficacy in gait training, the major limitation of the traditional treadmill therapy as a daily routine is the effort required by two or even three therapists in assisting the gait of severely affected subjects, setting the paralysed/paretic limb and controlling the trunk movement.
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