Smart Knee Brace

描述（由申请人提供）：许多人受到导致严重肌肉无力或运动控制受损的疾病的影响，这些疾病阻碍了行走能力。如果运动功能完全丧失，步行功能的康复可能会延迟，直到患者能够主动移动。延迟治疗通常会导致继发性损害，加剧患者的功能丧失，如废用性萎缩和全身失调。目前，治疗师可以开始通过使用下肢支架或体重支持的跑步机训练来支持弱肢的行走康复。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，支架被设计成固定患者承载重量的肢体。这促进了可能难以克服的异常、低效和非常消耗能量的运动模式。在体重支撑的跑步机训练期间，身体悬挂在跑步机上，并且消除全部或部分体重。典型的行走模式是通过治疗师手动定位肢体来模拟的，这是一种非常耗时且昂贵的康复形式。拟议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，通过鼓励更多的正常运动模式，同时在摆动阶段允许自由膝关节运动，这将有助于控制步态站立阶段的膝关节运动，这是市售支架无法做到的。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对膝关节进行调整。该提案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的可行性也将在健康受试者和30例脑卒中偏瘫患者中进行测试。在拟定工作期间收集的数据将用于计划未来的临床阶段工作。

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.