Robot Assisted Gait Training With Active Leg Exoskeleton (ALEX)

Gait training of stroke survivors is crucial to facilitate neuromuscular plasticity needed for improvements in functional walking ability. Robot assisted gait training (RAGT) was developed for stroke survivors using active leg exoskeleton (ALEX) and a force-field controller, which uses assist-as-nee...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 2 - 8
Main Authors Banala, Sai K., Kim, Seok Hun, Agrawal, Sunil K., Scholz, John P.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States IEEE 01.02.2009
Subjects
Aged
Algorithms
Ankle - physiology
Equipment Design
Exoskeletons
Force control
Force-field control
Gait - physiology
Gait Disorders, Neurologic - etiology
Gait Disorders, Neurologic - rehabilitation
gait rehabilitation
Humans
Knee
Leg
Legged locomotion
Male
Medical treatment
Middle Aged
Motor drives
Muscles
Rehabilitation robotics
Robot sensing systems
Robotics
Stroke - complications
Stroke Rehabilitation
Treatment Outcome
Walking - physiology
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Summary:Gait training of stroke survivors is crucial to facilitate neuromuscular plasticity needed for improvements in functional walking ability. Robot assisted gait training (RAGT) was developed for stroke survivors using active leg exoskeleton (ALEX) and a force-field controller, which uses assist-as-needed paradigm for rehabilitation. In this paradigm undesirable gait motion is resisted and assistance is provided towards desired motion. The force-field controller achieves this paradigm by effectively applying forces at the ankle of the subject through actuators on the hip and knee joints. Two stroke survivors participated in a 15-session gait training study each with ALEX. The results show that by the end of the training the gait pattern of the patients improved and became closer to a healthy subject's gait pattern. Improvement is seen as an increase in the size of the patients' gait pattern, increased knee and ankle joint excursions and increase in their walking speeds on the treadmill.
ISSN:1534-4320
1558-0210
DOI:10.1109/TNSRE.2008.2008280