Hardware Development and Locomotion Control Strategy for an Over-Ground Gait Trainer: NaTUre-Gaits

IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, 2014 · DOI: 10.1109/JTEHM.2014.2303807 · Published: January 30, 2014

Assistive Technology Rehabilitation

Simple Explanation

This paper introduces NaTUre-gaits, an over-ground gait rehabilitation system designed to aid individuals with walking difficulties, particularly those with spinal cord injuries or stroke. It aims to overcome the limitations of therapist-assisted rehabilitation by providing robotic assistance for pelvic motion, body weight support, and lower limb movement. NaTUre-gaits incorporates three main modules: a pelvic assistance mechanism, a mobile platform, and a robotic orthosis. These modules work together to provide a more natural and effective gait training experience compared to traditional treadmill-based systems. The system uses a personalized gait pattern prediction model to generate walking patterns tailored to the individual's specific needs and characteristics, ensuring a more comfortable and natural walking experience during rehabilitation.

Study Duration

Not specified

Participants

One 64 year old male subject with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI)

Evidence Level

Not specified

Key Findings

1
NaTUre-gaits is capable of providing secure locomotor training environment, reducing manpower and labor involvement during rehabilitation training process, and inducing comfortable (or natural) gait patterns on the subject walking with the gait system.
2
The clinical trial with an iSCI subject demonstrated the ability of NaTUre-gaits to provide gait locomotion assistance, suggesting its potential for rehabilitation purposes.
3
The study confirmed the ability of NaTUre-gaits to enable a 10-meter walk with reduced manpower, indicating its potential for task-specific repetitive training.

Research Summary

The paper introduces NaTUre-gaits, a novel over-ground gait rehabilitation system designed to address the limitations of therapist-assisted body weight supported (TABWS) training. The system aims to provide pelvic motion, body weight support, over-ground walking experience, and lower limb assistance. NaTUre-gaits consists of three main modules: a pelvic assistance mechanism (PA), a mobile platform (MP), and a robotic orthosis (RO). The system employs an individual-specific gait pattern prediction model to generate gait patterns that resemble natural walking. A clinical trial with an iSCI subject demonstrated the feasibility and potential of NaTUre-gaits for gait rehabilitation, highlighting its ability to provide gait locomotion assistance and reduce the labor demands of traditional over-ground gait training.

Practical Implications

Reduced Manpower

NaTUre-gaits can significantly reduce the physical burden on therapists, enabling more efficient and sustainable rehabilitation programs.

Personalized Gait Training

The individual-specific gait pattern prediction model allows for tailored rehabilitation, potentially leading to improved patient outcomes.

Enhanced Walking Experience

The over-ground walking feature offers a more functional and realistic training environment compared to treadmill-based systems, promoting better motor learning.

Study Limitations

1
The procedure of harness wearing and the design of the harness shall be reﬁned such that it can be worn with least possibility of misalignment and in shorten time.
2
Currently, NaTUre-gaits only moves the subject along predeﬁned trajectories and does not adapt the gait pattern to the activity of the subject.
3
Subjects are trained with totally passive training strategy, they tend to train with reduced activity of muscles and metabolism.

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