ABLE: assistive biorobotic low-cost exoskeleton

Abstract

Robotic gait training after spinal cord injury is of high priority to maximize independence and improve the health condition of these patients. Current rehabilitation robots are expensive and heavy, and are generally found only in the clinic. To overcome these issues, we present the design of a low-cost, low-weight, personalized and easy-to-use robotic exoskeleton for incomplete spinal cord injured subjects based on simple modular components that are assembled on the current passive orthopedic supports. The paper also presents a preliminary experimental assessment of the assistive device on one subject with spinal cord injury that can control hip flexion, but lacks control of knee and ankle muscles. Results show that gait velocity, stride length and cadence of walking increased (24,11%, 7,41% and 15,56%, respectively) when wearing the robotic exoskeleton compared to the case when the subject used the usual passive supports.