Title :
Motion controlled gait enhancing mobile shoe for rehabilitation
Author :
Handzic, Ismet ; Vasudevan, Erin V. ; Reed, Kyle B.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Mech. Eng., Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
fDate :
June 29 2011-July 1 2011
Abstract :
Walking on a split-belt treadmill, which has two belts that can be run at different speeds, has been shown to improve walking patterns post-stroke. However, these improvements are only temporarily retained once individuals transition to walking over ground. We hypothesize that longer-lasting effects would be observed if the training occurred during natural walking over ground, as opposed to on a treadmill. In order to study such long-term effects, we have developed a mobile and portable device which can simulate the same gait altering movements experienced on a split-belt treadmill. The new motion controlled gait enhancing mobile shoe improves upon the previous version´s drawbacks. This version of the GEMS has motion that is continuous, smooth, and regulated with on-board electronics. A vital component of this new design is the Archimedean spiral wheel shape that redirects the wearer´s downward force into a horizontal backward motion. The design is passive and does not utilize any motors. Its motion is regulated only by a small magnetic particle brake. Further experimentation is needed to evaluate the long-term after-effects.
Keywords :
biomedical equipment; gait analysis; handicapped aids; medical control systems; patient rehabilitation; Archimedean spiral wheel shape; GEMS; horizontal backward motion; long-term after-effects; magnetic particle brake; motion controlled gait enhancing mobile shoe; portable device; rehabilitation; split-belt treadmill; training; vital component; walking patterns; wearer downward force; Foot; Footwear; Force; Leg; Legged locomotion; Shape; Wheels; Gait; Humans; Movement; Self-Help Devices; Stroke;
Conference_Titel :
Rehabilitation Robotics (ICORR), 2011 IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Zurich
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-9863-5
Electronic_ISBN :
1945-7898
DOI :
10.1109/ICORR.2011.5975417