Ankle Rehabilitation Training Research Articles

A compact motorized end-effector for ankle rehabilitation training.

This paper introduces a compact end-effector ankle rehabilitation robot (CEARR) system for addressing ankle range of motion (ROM) rehabilitation. The CEARR features a bilaterally symmetrical rehabilitation structure, with each side possessing three degrees of freedom (DOF) driven by three independently designed actuators. The working intervals of each actuator are separated by a series connection, ensuring they operate without interference to accommodate the dorsiflexion/plantarflexion (DO/PL), inversion/eversion (IN/EV), and adduction/abduction (AD/AB) DOF requirements for comprehensive ankle rehabilitation. In addition, we integrated an actuator and foldable brackets to accommodate patients in varied postures. We decoded the motor intention based on the surface electromyography (sEMG) and torque signals generated by the subjects' ankle joints in voluntary rehabilitation. Besides, we designed a real-time voluntary-triggered control (VTC) strategy to enhance the rehabilitation effect, in which the root mean square (RMS) of sEMG was utilized to trigger and adjust the CEARR rehabilitation velocity support. We verified the consistency of voluntary movement with CEARR rehabilitation support output for four healthy subjects on a nonlinear sEMG signal with an metric of approximately 0.67. We tested the consistency of triggering velocity trends with a linear torque signal for one healthy individual with an metric of approximately 0.99.

Research on an ankle rehabilitation robot for hemiplegic patients after stroke.

This paper proposes an ankle rehabilitation robot to assist hemiplegic patients with movement training. The robot consists of two symmetric mechanisms, allowing stroke survivors to execute ankle rehabilitation training based on physiological differences. LPMS-B sensors measure the range of movement (ROM) of the human ankle joint, and the results are used for control parameters of the robot. Control strategies for constant speed training mode, constant torque training mode, and combination training mode are put forth based on the hardware system of the robot. Experiments verify the feasibility of the robot for ankle rehabilitation training. Results show a maximum mean error of 0.3364° between the trajectory of the intact side and the affected side, a maximum mean error of 0.0335°/s between target speed and experimental speed, and a maximum mean error of 0.0775 N m between target torque and experimental torque. The ankle joint rehabilitation robot proposed in this paper can help patients complete the training well under the three control modes.

Development of AnkleReHabit - A Low-Cost Robot-Aided Ankle Rehabilitation Platform

The ankle joint plays a critical part for human body weight support and daily movements. Any ankle joint injury can strongly affect the patient's daily life, so ankle joint rehabilitation is essential to ensure the functional recovery of the ankle after ankle dysfunction. The AnkleReHabit system, a full system including both hardware and software for ankle rehabilitation training, was developed in this paper. To test the operation of the proposed system, one healthy subject has been enrolled. The AnkleReHabit system works well during the test with both Mobile App and serious game. The feedback from the enrolled subject shows that the system can be used with comfortable, the training process can be more exciting with the serious game developed on the computer. The AnkeReHabit platform was proven for feasibility in ankle rehabilitation training. Further work should include testing the effectiveness and the reliability of the AnkleReHabit system with the patients.

Design and Analysis of a Supine Ankle Rehabilitation Robot for Early Stroke Recovery

Existing ankle rehabilitation robots are large, difficult to move, and mostly designed for seated use, which cannot meet the early bedridden rehabilitation goals of stroke patients. To address these issues, a supine ankle rehabilitation robot (S-ARR) specifically designed for early bedridden rehabilitation of stroke patients has been proposed. The S-ARR is designed to be easily movable and adaptable to different heights. It features a variable workspace with mechanical limiters at the rotating joints. A kinematic model has been constructed, and the kinematic simulation of the S-ARR has been analyzed. A control system scheme for the S-ARR has been proposed. Additionally, experiments have been conducted on the prototype to measure joint range of motion and perform rehabilitation exercises. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the S-ARR has a feasible workspace and a relatively smooth motion process, enabling it to achieve supine ankle rehabilitation training. This indicates that the design of the supine ankle rehabilitation robot is reasonable, capable of meeting the requirements for ankle joint rehabilitation training, and has practical utility.

Injury Incidence, Risk Factors, Prevalence and Rehabilitation of Injuries of Ankles in Professional Basketball Players

Basketball, as one of the most famous sports in the world, has resulted in numerous injuries to professional basketball players. The most common injuries during basketball games are tooth damage, knee meniscus injury, collateral ligament damage, lumbar disc herniation, triangle cartilage disc of the wrist damage, knuckle contus++ion, active and passive strain, and ankle injuries. Ligaments in the ankle are easily injured; the severity of the injury is determined by the angle of the ankle sprain and the extent of ligament damage. Inadequate preparation, injury histories, age, and so on can all be risk factors. When an ankle sprain occurs, people should treat it properly, such as the Ice treatment and the well-known protection, loading optimal, ice, compression and altitude treatment and etc. In the short run, ankle rehabilitation training can be an effective treatment when the ankle is sprained. If it has the ankle spraining performance, Coaches and athletes are more likely to take countermeasures aimed at reducing the risk of injury.

Design and Experimental Research of 3-RRS Parallel Ankle Rehabilitation Robot.

The ankle is a crucial joint that supports the human body weight. An ankle sprain will adversely affect the patient’s daily life, so it is of great significance to ensure its strength. To help patients with ankle dysfunction to carry out effective rehabilitation training, the bone structure and motion mechanism of the ankle were analyzed in this paper. Referring to the configuration of the lower-mobility parallel mechanism, a 3-RRS (R and S denote revolute and spherical joint respectively) parallel ankle rehabilitation robot (PARR) was proposed. The robot can realize both single and compound ankle rehabilitation training. The structure of the robot was introduced, and the kinematics model was established. The freedom of movement of the robot was analyzed using the screw theory, and the robot kinematics were analyzed using spherical analytics theory. A circular composite rehabilitation trajectory was planned, and the accuracy of the kinematics model was verified by virtual prototype simulation. The Multibody simulation results show that the trajectory of the target point is basically the same as the expected trajectory. The maximum trajectory error is about 2.5 mm in the simulation process, which is within the controllable range. The experimental results of the virtual prototype simulation show that the maximum angular deflection error of the three motors is 2° when running a circular trajectory, which meets the experimental requirements. Finally, a control strategy for passive rehabilitation training was designed, and the effectiveness of this control strategy was verified by a prototype experiment.

Ankle dorsiflexion training with a newly developed Hybrid Assistive Limb for a patient with foot drop caused by common peroneal nerve palsy: a case report

[Purpose] An ankle disorder (foot drop) caused by common peroneal nerve palsy or cerebrovascular accident (stroke) interferes with patients’ ability to walk and hinders in activities of daily living. A new robotic ankle, the Hybrid Assistive Limb, has been developed for the treatment of foot drop caused by common peroneal nerve palsy or sequelae of stroke. The purpose in this study was to report and examine the efficacy and feasibility of a case who was treated with voluntary ankle dorsiflexion training with the ankle Hybrid Assistive Limb. [Participant and Method] A 60-year-old man with foot drop due to peroneal nerve palsy that occurred without a contributory cause was treated via ankle dorsiflexion training with the use of a new robotic ankle, the “Ankle Hybrid Assistive Limb”. [Results] Following total ankle rehabilitation training with the Ankle Hybrid Assistive Limb, improvements in ankle dorsiflexor strength, gait, and sensory function of the lower leg and foot were observed. [Conclusion] The newly developed ankle Hybrid Assistive Limb could be an effective training tool for foot drop caused by common peroneal nerve palsy.

Research on control strategies for ankle rehabilitation using parallel mechanism

For patients with ankle injuries, rehabilitation training is an important and effective way to help patients restore their ankle complex's motor abilities. Aiming to improve the accuracy and performance of ankle rehabilitation, the authors focus on the control strategies of the developed parallel ankle rehabilitation robot with novel 2-UPS/RRR mechanism. Firstly, the kinematics model of the mechanism is established, and they deduce the inverse solution of positions as well as the velocity mapping between the driving speed and the robot's angular velocity, based on which they realise the trajectory tracking control in the process of passive rehabilitation training. Secondly, they set up experiments to determine the torque threshold that can be used to detect the motion intention of ankle joint, and then they propose the active rehabilitation training strategy according to the motion intention detection. Finally, experiments were carried out with healthy subjects, with results showing that the trajectory tracking error during passive rehabilitation training is very small, and the moving platform of the ankle rehabilitation robot can drive the ankle joint to the detected motion intention direction at a constant speed flexibly and smoothly, which verifies the effectiveness of the control strategies for ankle rehabilitation training.

Effectiveness of robot-assisted therapy on ankle rehabilitation--a systematic review.

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to provide a systematic review of studies that investigated the effectiveness of robot-assisted therapy on ankle motor and function recovery from musculoskeletal or neurologic ankle injuries.MethodsThirteen electronic databases of articles published from January, 1980 to June, 2012 were searched using keywords ‘ankle*’, ‘robot*’, ‘rehabilitat*’ or ‘treat*’ and a free search in Google Scholar based on effects of ankle rehabilitation robots was also conducted. References listed in relevant publications were further screened. Eventually, twenty-nine articles were selected for review and they focused on effects of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation.ResultsTwenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria and a total of 164 patients and 24 healthy subjects participated in these trials. Ankle performance and gait function were the main outcome measures used to assess the therapeutic effects of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation. The protocols and therapy treatments were varied, which made comparison among different studies difficult or impossible. Few comparative trials were conducted among different devices or control strategies. Moreover, the majority of study designs met levels of evidence that were no higher than American Academy for Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM) level IV. Only one study used a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) approach with the evidence level being II.ConclusionAll the selected studies showed improvements in terms of ankle performance or gait function after a period of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation training. The most effective robot-assisted intervention cannot be determined due to the lack of universal evaluation criteria for various devices and control strategies. Future research into the effects of robot-assisted ankle rehabilitation should be carried out based on universal evaluation criteria, which could determine the most effective method of intervention. It is also essential to conduct trials to analyse the differences among different devices or control strategies.