Research on Safety and Compliance of a New Lower Limb Rehabilitation Robot

J Healthc Eng. 2017:2017:1523068. doi: 10.1155/2017/1523068. Epub 2017 Jul 26.

Abstract

The lower limb rehabilitation robot is an application of robotic technology for stroke people with lower limb disabilities. A new applicable and effective sitting/lying lower limb rehabilitation robot (LLR-Ro) is proposed, which has the mechanical limit protection, the electrical limit protection, and the software protection to prevent the patient from the secondary damage. Meanwhile, as a new type of the rehabilitation robots, its hip joint rotation ranges are different in the patient sitting training posture and lying training posture. The mechanical leg of the robot has a variable workspace to work in both training postures. So, if the traditional mechanical limit and the electrical limit cannot be used in the hip joint mechanism design, a follow-up limit is first proposed to improve the compatibility of human-machine motion. Besides, to eliminate the accident interaction force between the patient and LLR-Ro in the process of the passive training, an amendment impedance control strategy based on the position control is proposed to improve the compliance of the LLR-Ro. A simulation experiment and an experiment with a participant show that the passive training of LLR-Ro has compliance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Exercise Therapy
  • Exoskeleton Device*
  • Humans
  • Lower Extremity*
  • Range of Motion, Articular
  • Robotics*
  • Safety
  • Stroke Rehabilitation*