WAKE-Up Exoskeleton to Assist Children With Cerebral Palsy: Design and Preliminary Evaluation in Level Walking

IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2017 Jul;25(7):906-916. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2017.2651404. Epub 2017 Jan 11.

Abstract

This paper presents the modular design and control of a novel compliant lower limbmulti-joint exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of ankle kneemobility and locomotion of pediatric patients with neurological diseases, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP). The device consists of an untethered powered knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO), addressed as WAKE-up (Wearable Ankle Knee Exoskeleton), characterized by a position control and capable of operating synchronously and synergistically with the human musculoskeletal system. The WAKE-up mechanical system, control architecture and feature extraction are described. Two test benches were used to mechanically characterize the device. The full system showed a maximum value of hysteresis equal to 8.8% and a maximum torque of 5.6 N m/rad. A pre-clinical use was performed, without body weight support, by four typically developing children and three children with CP. The aims were twofold: 1) to test the structure under weight-bearing conditions and 2) to ascertain its ability to provide appropriate assistance to the ankle and the knee during overground walking in a real environment. Results confirm the effectiveness of the WAKE-up design in providing torque assistance in accordance to the volitionalmovements especially in the recovery of correct foot landing at the start of the gait cycle.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Video-Audio Media

MeSH terms

  • Cerebral Palsy / diagnosis
  • Cerebral Palsy / physiopathology*
  • Cerebral Palsy / rehabilitation*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Exoskeleton Device*
  • Female
  • Gait
  • Gait Disorders, Neurologic / diagnosis
  • Gait Disorders, Neurologic / physiopathology*
  • Gait Disorders, Neurologic / rehabilitation*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Neurological Rehabilitation / instrumentation
  • Neurological Rehabilitation / methods
  • Pilot Projects
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Robotics / instrumentation*
  • Robotics / methods
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Treatment Outcome
  • Walking*