Smart Knee Brace

描述（由申请人提供）：许多人受到严重肌肉无力或运动控制受损的疾病的影响，从而阻碍了行走的能力。如果运动功能完全丧失，步行功能的康复可能会延迟到患者能够主动移动。延迟治疗往往会导致继发性损伤，加剧患者的功能丧失，如废用性萎缩和全身功能减退。目前，治疗师可以通过使用下肢支架或体重支撑的跑步机训练来开始康复行走，以支持虚弱的肢体。目前没有可用的下肢支架可以为患者提供典型运动模式的体验；相反，牙套是用来固定病人承受重量的肢体的。这就形成了不正常的、低效的、耗费大量能源的运动模式，这些模式可能难以克服。在支撑体重的跑步机训练中，身体悬挂在跑步机上，全部或部分体重被消除。典型的行走模式是由治疗师通过手动定位肢体来模拟的，这是一种非常耗时和昂贵的康复形式。拟议的项目涉及开发一种智能膝关节支架（SKB），用于下肢无力者的行走康复。本研究的目的是开发SKB，通过鼓励更正常的运动模式来帮助控制站立阶段的膝关节运动，同时允许膝关节在摇摆阶段自由运动，这是市面上没有的支架可以做到的。SKB将提供对膝关节的控制，并根据患者的行走能力和康复目标进行调整。这项建议代表了基于健康老年受试者的行走模式开发SBK及其电子控制器的工作的第一阶段。SKB的可行性还将在健康受试者和3例中风偏瘫患者身上进行测试。在拟议的工作期间收集的数据将用于计划未来的临床阶段的工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A vast number of people are affected by conditions that result in profound muscle weakness or impaired motor control that impede the ability to walk. If motor function is completely lost, rehabilitation of walking function may be delayed until the patient is able move actively. Delayed therapy often leads to secondary impairments that exacerbate a patient's functional losses such as disuse atrophy and general deconditioning. Currently, therapists can begin rehabilitation of walking by using lower extremity braces or body weight supported treadmill training to support the weak limb. No currently available lower extremity braces can provide the patient the experience of typical movement patterns; rather braces are designed to immobilze the limb on which the patient bears weight. This fosters abnormal, inefficient and very energy costly movement patterns that might be difficult to overcome. During body weight supported treadmill training the body is suspended over a treadmill and all or part of the body weight is eliminated. Typical walking patterns are simulated by a manual positioning of the limb by therapists, a very time intensive and costly form of rehabilitation. The proposed project involves the development of a Smart Knee Brace (SKB) for use in rehabilitation of walking in persons with lower extremity weakness. The purpose of this study is to develop the SKB that will help to control knee movement during the stance phase of gait by encouraging more normal movement patterns while allowing free knee motion during the swing phase, something no commercially available braces can do. The SKB will provide control of the knee joint that will be adjusted for each patient based on his or her walking ability and the goals of their rehabilitation. This proposal represented the first phase of the work to develop the SBK and its electronic controllers based on walking patterns from healthy older subjects. Feasibility of the SKB will also be tested on healthy subjects and 3atients with hemiparesis from stroke. The data collected during the proposed work will be used to plan Future clinical phases of the work.