Title :
On the design of an ischiatic body weight support system (IBWS) for gait rehabilitation
Author :
Salguero-Beltrán, Andrés ; Yamhure, German ; Manrique, Martha ; Jiménez, Luis C. ; Hernández, Andrés M. ; Cotrino, Carlos
Author_Institution :
Fac. of Eng., Pontificia Univ. Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia
Abstract :
Little attention has been devoted to enabling Robot assisted gait rehabilitation of locomotion disorders from orthopedic origin. This paper proposes a weight support system for gait rehabilitation research in clinical environments that includes a novel pelvic support attached to a Cartesian assistive manipulator. Such an actuation configuration allows studying the patient´s ambulation when wearing supporting devices. A basic dynamic model and control is done for testing system functionality. Preliminary experiments in weight-bearing walking are presented. The results showed the electrical and software architecture provided a stable platform for controlling the actuation mechanisms. Load relieve accompanied of full joint motion indicates the suitability of the proposed system for rehabilitation of locomotion disorders from orthopedic origin.
Keywords :
gait analysis; manipulators; medical disorders; medical robotics; orthopaedics; patient rehabilitation; software architecture; supports; Cartesian assistive manipulator; IBWS design; actuation configuration; actuation mechanism control; clinical environments; dynamic model; electrical architecture; ischiatic body weight support system design; joint motion; locomotion disorder rehabilitation; orthopedics; pelvic support; robot assisted gait rehabilitation; software architecture; system functionality testing; wearable devices; weight-bearing walking; Brushless motors; Force; Hip; Joints; Legged locomotion; Pelvis; Sockets; Ischium; walking support; weight bearing;
Conference_Titel :
Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics (BioRob), 2012 4th IEEE RAS & EMBS International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Rome
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1199-2
DOI :
10.1109/BioRob.2012.6290940