Running Motion Assistance Using a Soft Gait-Assistive Suit and Its Experimental Validation
Running Motion Assistance Using a Soft Gait-Assistive Suit and Its Experimental Validation
复制标题
DOI：
10.1109/access.2021.3093209
复制
发表时间：
2021
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
Tetsuro Miyazaki;Toshihiro Kawase;T. Kanno;Maina Sogabe;Y. Nakajima;K. Kawashima
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tetsuro Miyazaki;Toshihiro Kawase;T. Kanno;Maina Sogabe;Y. Nakajima;K. Kawashima
为了满足不同训练者的不同需求，需要一种能够调节目标腿部负荷的步态训练方法。在这项研究中，我们提出了一种跑步训练方法，使用柔软的步态辅助服-一种动力辅助装置，通过驱动气动人工肌肉（PAM）向受训者的腿部施加外力。在此，辅助力被施加到受训者的腿部，使得在整个步态周期中减少肌肉活动。我们从压力信息中检测出最终站立阶段作为适当的辅助定时，并且将检测到的定时用于PAM控制。我们进行了PAM压力变化的验证实验。在7.0 ~ 10.0 km/h的运行模式下，所有数据表明，小腿前部的PAM比小腿后部的PAM具有更好的检测能力，而小腿后部的PAM用于常规检测方法。实验结果证实，用于步态相位检测的PAM应位于跑步过程中的小腿前部。通过对4名训练者在跑步机上的实验，验证了所提出的跑步训练方法的有效性。测量受试者的下肢肌电，观察其变化。因此，4名受训者的16个通道中有14个显示出显著差异，并且在-1.4%至-80.3%的最大自主收缩范围内，通过服装辅助使肌电图降低。因此，实验结果定量地证实了所提出的跑步辅助方法在减少肌肉活动方面是有效的。
A gait training method that can adjust the target leg load is required to meet the varied demands of trainees. In this study, we propose a running training method using a soft gait-assistive suit—a power-assistive device that adds an external force to the leg of a trainee by actuating a pneumatic artificial muscle (PAM). Herein, the assisting force is applied to the leg of the trainee so that muscle activity is reduced throughout the gait cycle. We detected the terminal stance phase as an appropriate assist timing from the pressure information, and the detected timing was used for the PAM control. We conducted a verification experiment of the PAM pressure variation. In a running mode of 7.0 to 10.0 km/h, all data showed that the PAM at the calf front has better detectability than that at the calf back, which is used in conventional detection methods. The experimental results confirmed that the PAM for gait phase detection should be positioned at the calf front during running. The effectiveness of the proposed running training method was verified through experiments on four trainees using a treadmill. The leg electromyogram of the trainees was measured and changes observed. Accordingly, 14 out of 16 channels of the four trainees showed a significant difference, and the electromyograms decreased by the suit assistance in the range of −1.4 to − 80.3% maximum voluntary contraction. Thus, the experimental results quantitatively confirmed that the proposed running assistance method is effective in reducing muscular activity.