For active AFO applications, pneumatic remote transmission has advantages in minimizing the mass and complexity of the system due to the flexibility in placing pneumatic components and providing high back-drivability via simple valve control. However, pneumatic systems are generally tethered to large stationary air compressors, which greatly limit the practical daily usage. In this study, we implemented a wearable custom compressor that can be worn at the trunk of the body and can generate up to 1050 kPa of pressurized air to power an unilateral active AFO for dorsiflexion (DF) assistance of drop-foot patients. In order to minimize the size and weight of the custom compressor, the compression rate of the custom compressor was optimized to the rate of consumption required to power the active AFO. The finalized system can provide a maximum assistive torque of 9.8 Nm at a functional frequency of 1 Hz and the average resistive torque during free movement was 0.03 Nm. The system was tested for five hemiplegic drop-foot patients. The proposed system showed an average improvement of 12.3° of ankle peak dorsiflexion angle during the mid to late swing phase.

中文翻译：

---

气动AFO，由微型定制压缩机提供动力，可进行落脚校正。

对于主动式AFO应用，气动远程传输的优点是可以最大程度地减少系统的质量和复杂性，这是因为可以灵活地放置气动组件，并可以通过简单的阀控制来提供高反向驱动性。然而，气动系统通常被束缚在大型固定式空气压缩机上，这极大地限制了实际的日常使用。在这项研究中，我们实现了一种可穿戴的定制压缩机，该压缩机可以戴在身体的躯干上，并可以产生高达1050 kPa的压缩空气，以为单侧主动AFO供电，以为下脚患者的背屈（DF）提供帮助。为了最小化定制压缩机的尺寸和重量，将定制压缩机的压缩率优化到为有源AFO供电所需的消耗率。最终的系统可以在1 Hz的功能频率下提供9.8 Nm的最大辅助扭矩，自由移动过程中的平均抵抗扭矩为0.03 Nm。该系统已针对五名偏瘫的足下垂患者进行了测试。拟议的系统显示出在摆动中期至后期平均踝峰值背屈角提高了12.3°。