Development Of Wearable 3-DOF Ankle-foot Rehabilitation Exoskeleton

Advancements in robotic technology are promoting the development of powered exoskeleton around the world. Aiding in motion rehabilitation and enhancing motor capabilities in disabled individuals are important applications of exoskeleton technology. Drop foot is a classical complication in stroke patient. The two major symptoms of drop foot are foot slapping after heel strike and toe dragging after pre-swing phase. The current assistive device is the Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) preventing foot slapping and toe dragging during walking. The application of exoskeleton technology in ankle rehabilitation can not only prevent foot drop and regain the patient's capability of normal walking, but also replace the traditional rehabilitation training by physiotherapist to get active dorsiflexion of ankle joint.Based on the study of the ankle rehabilitation system from the research institutes around the world, this study designed a wearable unactuated 3 DOF ankle-foot exoskeleton for paralyzed patients' prevention of foot drop and ankle neuromuscular rehabilitation through studying on the human's ankle motion principle. Meanwhile, the exoskeleton has the function of gait-phase feedback based on plantar force measurement, which monitors the subject gait during walking. After processing the feedback information, the physiotherapist can adjust the gait trajectory of ankle joint within the normal range to improve the training comfort and other training goals. This exoskeleton Ambulatory ankle-foot rehabilitation exoskeleton can also work with existed lower extremity exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of hip, knee and ankle. This study was proposed to reduce the shock from the ground and the risk of falling due to foot slapping and toe dragging, improve the walk training comfort and the rehabilitation efficiency.Finally, a prototype system of the ankle-foot rehabilitation exoskeleton is established. A series of experiments including normal gait and pathology gait training experiments are conducted which show the functionality and feasibility of the exoskeleton system. This study provides a reliable experiment platform and the theory and practicing foundation for the following study.