Pilot study of single-legged walking support using wearable robot based on synchronization control for stroke patients

摘要

This paper proposes a novel walking support system with the wearable robot called “curara”, which supports the swinging motion of the wearer's leg unilaterally based on synchronization control using a neural oscillator. The effectiveness assessment of the proposed system was implemented through two preliminary walking test stages. In this pilot study, the range of motion (ROM) of the lower limb, the step length, the times of the swing phase and the stance phase, and the harmonic ratio (HR), which was calculated on the basis of Fourier analysis, were used to evaluate gait symmetry and smoothness during the walking support. The experimental participant, who simulates the physical conditions of a hemiplegic stroke patient, received walking support from the system for their lower limb on one side. From the perspectives of the spatial and temporal symmetries, the first experiment confirmed that the system supports both symmetrical and smooth swinging of the wearer's affected leg. In the second experiment, we performed a walking test for comparison with the conventional curara system that assists both of the wearer's legs. The results showed that the proposed system provides assistive efficiency that is equal to that of the conventional system when the system supports the swinging motion of the wearer's leg on one side. Consequently, we verified the effectiveness of the proposed walking support system though these preliminary experiments.