Biomechanical based design of an active knee ankle foot orthosis to augment the knee motions

Many people have lower limb paralysis from different reasons and many Thai patients were prescribed by passive orthoses although some active orthoses have been invented [1-5] for more natural and smooth gait because of augmentation and control of weak motions for the paralyze people, but the price is expensive and difficult for Thai disables to access. The objective of this study is to develop the active orthosis that help empower knee motions for weak knee extensor patients. One normal subject participated and walked with the developed device for three rounds in order to see if the desired knee angle and power is achieved. The knee angles were measured and compared with normal data of knee angle during a gait cycle. The design criteria were achieved but further improvement should be done for the future study.