Characteristics of the Muscle Activities of the Elderly wearing the Lower limb Orthosis during Gait on the Treadmill

We have developed a lower limb orthosis with a pneumatic rubber actuator, which is intended for the assistance and the enhancement of lower limb muscular activities of the elderly. For this purpose, we investigated the characteristics of the muscular activities with and without the orthosis in gait motion on treadmill. To find out the characteristics of the muscle activities, we analyzed the gait motion of the subject and flexing and extending motion of the knees and measured muscular power in the lower limb. The subjects wearing the lower limb orthosis were instructed to perform gait on the treadmill and flexing and extending motion of the knees in sitting position for monitoring of electromyogram and muscular activities. We used the C8051F Target Board (SILICON LABORATORIES, Inc., USA) for the orthosis control. The air pressure of the pneumatic actuator was varied from one kgf/cm² to four kgf/cm² to find the most suitable air pressure. Through this study, we expect to find the effect of the lower limb orthosis in the gait motion and muscular activities along with the most suitable air pressure in the pneumatic actuator of the orthosis for the enhancement of muscular power for the elderly