Foot drop is the inability to dorsiflex the ankle (raise the toes) due to neuromuscular impairment, and this common condition can cause trips and falls. Current treatments for chronic foot drop provide dorsiflexion support, but they either impede ankle push off or are not suitable for all patients. Powered ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) can counteract foot drop without these drawbacks, but they are heavy and bulky and have short battery life. To counteract foot drop without the drawbacks of current treatments or powered AFO, we designed and built an AFO powered by dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), a type of artificial muscle technology. This paper presents our design and the results of benchtop testing. We found that the DEA AFO can provide 49 % of the dorsiflexion support necessary to raise the foot. Further, charging the DEAs reduced the effort that would be required for plantarflexion compared to that with passive DEA behavior, and this operation could be powered for 7000 steps or more in actual operation. DEAs are a promising approach for building an AFO that counteracts foot drop without impeding plantarflexion, and they may prove useful for other powered prosthesis and orthosis designs.

脚下垂是由于神经肌肉损伤而无法使踝背屈（抬高脚趾），这种常见情况可能导致绊倒和跌倒。当前的慢性脚下垂治疗可提供背屈支持，但它们会阻碍脚踝下垂或不适用于所有患者。电动踝足矫形器（AFO）可以抵消脚下垂而没有这些缺点，但它们笨重且笨重，并且电池寿命短。为了抵消脚下垂而没有当前治疗或电动AFO的缺点，我们设计并制造了一种由介电弹性体致动器（DEA）驱动的AFO，这是一种人造肌肉技术。本文介绍了我们的设计和台式测试的结果。我们发现DEA AFO可以提供49 抬高脚所需的背屈支撑百分比。此外，与具有被动DEA行为相比，对DEA进行充电可减少足底屈曲所需的精力，并且在实际操作中可以为该操作供电7000步或更多。DEA是一种用于构建AFO的有前途的方法，该AFO可以在不妨碍足底屈曲的情况下抵消足部跌落，并且对于其他动力假体和矫形器设计可能很有用。