Background

Overground lower-limb robotic exoskeletons are assistive devices used to facilitate ambulation and gait rehabilitation. Our understanding of how closely they resemble comfortable and slow walking is limited. This information is important to maximise the effects of gait rehabilitation. The aim was to compare the 3D gait parameters of able-bodied individuals walking with and without an exoskeleton at two speeds (self-selected comfortable vs. slow, speed-matched to the exoskeleton) to understand how the user's body moved within the device.

Methods

Eight healthy, able-bodied individuals walked along a 12-m walkway with and without the exoskeleton. Three-dimensional whole-body kinematics inside the device were captured. Temporal-spatial parameters and sagittal joint kinematics were determined for normal and exoskeleton walking. One-way repeated measures ANOVAs and statistical parametric mapping were used to compare the three walking conditions (P < .05).

Findings

The walking speeds of the slow (0.44[0.03] m/s) and exoskeleton (0.41[0.03] m/s) conditions were significantly slower than the comfortable walking speed (1.54[0.07] m/s). However, time in swing was significantly greater (P < .001, d = −3.64) and double support was correspondingly lower (P < .001, d = 3.72) during exoskeleton gait than slow walking, more closely resembling comfortable speed walking. Ankle and knee angles were significantly reduced in the slow and exoskeleton conditions. Angles were also significantly different for the upper body.

Interpretation

Although the slow condition was speed-matched to exoskeleton gait, the stance:swing ratio of exoskeleton stepping more closely resembled comfortable gait than slow gait. The altered upper body kinematics suggested that overground exoskeletons may provide a training environment that would also benefit balance training.

中文翻译：

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动力机器人外骨骼步态与正常步态和慢步步态的生物力学比较：对健全个体的调查。

背景

上肢下肢机器人外骨骼是辅助设备，可用于步行和步态康复。我们对它们与舒适和缓慢行走的相似程度的了解有限。此信息对于最大化步态康复的效果很重要。目的是比较健全人在有和没有外骨骼时以两种速度行走的3D步态参数（自行选择舒适与慢速，速度与外骨骼匹配），以了解用户的身体在设备中的移动方式。

方法

八个健康健全的人在有或没有外骨骼的情况下沿着12米的人行道行走。捕获了设备内部的三维全身运动学。确定了正常和外骨骼行走的时空参数和矢状关节运动学。单向重复测量方差分析和统计参数映射用于比较三种步行条件（P  <.05）。

发现

慢速（0.44 [0.03] m / s）和外骨骼（0.41 [0.03] m / s）的步行速度明显慢于舒适的步行速度（1.54 [0.07] m / s）。然而， 与慢速行走相比，在外骨骼步态中，摆动时间明显更长（P  <.001，d  = -3.64），双支撑相应地更低（P  <.001，d = 3.72），更类似于舒适的速度行走。在慢速和外骨骼条件下，踝关节和膝关节的角度明显减少。上身的角度也明显不同。

解释

尽管慢速条件与外骨骼步态速度匹配，但外骨骼步态的步态：摆动比与慢步态更相似。改变的上半身运动学表明，地上的外骨骼可能提供训练环境，这也将有益于平衡训练。