Smart Knee Brace

描述(申请人提供)：大多数人都会受到严重的肌肉无力或运动控制障碍的疾病的影响，这些疾病会阻碍行走能力。如果运动功能完全丧失，步行功能的恢复可能会推迟到患者能够主动活动。延迟治疗往往会导致继发性损伤，从而加剧患者的功能丧失，如废用、萎缩和全身去条件反射。目前，治疗师可以通过使用下肢支架或体重支持跑步机训练来支持虚弱的肢体，从而开始康复行走。目前还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，支架是为了固定患者承受重量的肢体而设计的。这就滋生了不正常的、低效的和非常耗费能量的运动模式，这些模式可能很难克服。在体重支持的跑步机训练中，身体被悬挂在跑步机上，全部或部分体重被消除。典型的行走模式是通过治疗师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)，用于康复腿部无力的人的行走。这项研究的目的是开发SKB，通过鼓励更正常的运动模式，同时允许在摆动阶段自由膝盖运动，帮助控制步态站立阶段的膝盖运动，这是任何商用支架都不能做到的。SKB将为每个患者提供膝关节控制，并根据患者的行走能力和康复目标进行调整。这项提议代表了开发SBK及其电子控制器的第一阶段工作，该工作基于健康的老年受试者的行走模式。SKB的可行性也将在健康受试者和中风偏瘫患者身上进行测试。在拟议工作期间收集的数据将用于规划工作的未来临床阶段。

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.