Abstract
Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) is usually prescribed for gait treatment. Low cost, easy to fabricate, safe, long term usage, and personalized AFO is demanded to facilitate and accelerate the prescription process, which is iterative, individualized, and collaborative. Passive Controllable AFO (PICAFO) was developed to fulfil the demand, consisting of several research works, such as the gait detection method, smart actuator design, and controller development. Two gait detection methods had been considered. Firstly, the system utilized the Electromyography (EMG) biosignal to detect the stance and swing phase. Secondly, hybrid Magnetorheological Elastomer (MRE) is used to detect four gait phases based on foot contact. The smart actuator, a small scale Magnetorheological (MR) brake, had been constructed, which generated 2.1 Nm maximum damping stiffness to partially support the ankle stiffness. The controller is essential because controlling the damping stiffness accordingly to the current gait ensures positive assistance. The latest version of the PICAFO controller utilized ankle velocity reference to control the MR brake stiffness, which can be estimated based on the user’s walking speed and body mass index. The presented research works show that achieving personalized gait treatment using the PICAFO system is possible.
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 callMore From: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
Disclaimer: 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.
