CRAFT Simulator: A Robotic Device for the Identification of Human Foot Structure and Function

足部和踝关节是人类在各种环境中进行运动任务所必需的关键结构。脚和脚踝有26块骨头，33个关节，100多个肌腱、肌肉和韧带，天生就是复杂的结构，也是人体生物力学上最不为人所知的部位之一。在运动过程中，足部和踝关节的骨骼承受着巨大的负荷。然而，由于如此复杂，脚和脚踝具有适应、变形和感知环境的能力，从而使人类能够毫不费力地在各种地形上移动。足部和踝关节如何能够高效地完成运动任务尚不清楚，这一理解是必不可少的，因为足部和踝关节的任何功能障碍都会严重影响运动。NSERC RTI的目的是申请资金，用于制造一种机器人设备，该设备可以记录骨骼运动和负荷，并控制足部和脚踝的内在和外在肌肉。这种设备将被命名为“尸体机器人脚踝-脚踏模拟器”。目前最先进的机器人步态模拟器操纵外部肌肉来产生尸体脚-脚踝的大体运动，同时记录地面反作用力。但最近的证据表明，内在肌肉在体内调节足中部和足弓行为方面也至关重要，但目前还没有办法用现有的步态模拟器来驱动这些肌肉。在这一点上，目前还没有研究彻底描述内在肌肉、肌腱和韧带网络如何在站立、行走或跑步等日常活动中在整个足部分配力。因此，我们提出CRAFT模拟器作为一种新的步态模拟装置，它将控制足部和踝关节的十几块外在和内在肌肉的力/刚度。该装置将结合使用两种不同设计的先进成像技术测量三维骨骼运动。在设计1中，Stewart平台将通过安装的力板对人体足部施加力，光学运动捕捉设备将通过控制地面反作用力记录骨骼运动。在设计2中，将对该设备进行修改，使其与动态计算机断层扫描（CT）、负重CT和双透视等成像技术兼容，通过机器人控制足部的内在和外在肌肉，更全面地捕捉足部和踝关节的骨骼运动和负荷。该机器人装置将用于促进足部在负重、全身稳定性和运动中的作用的实验和模型识别。机器人设备将为HQP提供丰富的培训环境，允许学术界和工业界的鞋类、假肢足、矫形器和可穿戴传感器的新研究应用和工业产品开发。

The foot and ankle are critical structures that are essential to human locomotor tasks across a wide range of environments. With 26 bones, 33 joints, and over a hundred tendons, muscles, and ligaments, the foot and ankle are inherently complex structures and remain one of the least biomechanically understood parts of the human body. During locomotion, bones of the foot and ankle experience tremendous loads. However, with so much complexity, the foot and ankle have the ability to adapt, deform, and sense the environment it is interacting with to allow humans to move effortlessly across a variety of terrains. How the foot and ankle are able to perform locomotor tasks eloquently is unknown and this understanding is essential because any dysfunction in the foot and ankle severely compromises locomotion. The purpose of this NSERC RTI is to request funds for the building of a robotic device that can record bone motion and loading as well as control both the intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the foot and ankle - this device will be named the Cadaveric, Robotic Ankle-Foot Treading (CRAFT) simulator. The current state-of-the-art in robotic gait simulators manipulates the extrinsic muscles to produce gross motions of the cadaveric foot-ankle, while recording ground reaction forces. But recent evidence shows that the intrinsic muscles are also critically important for modulating mid-foot and arch behaviors in vivo, yet there is no way to actuate these muscles with existing gait simulators. Further to this point, there is currently no research that has thoroughly characterized how the intrinsic muscles, tendons, and ligamentous network distribute forces throughout the foot during many day-to-day activities such as standing, walking, or running. We therefore propose the CRAFT Simulator as a new gait simulation device that will control the force/stiffness of up to a dozen extrinsic and intrinsic muscles of the foot and ankle. This device will be coupled with measurements of three-dimensional bone motions with advanced imaging technologies using two different designs. In Design 1, a Stewart Platform will apply forces to the human foot with a mounted force plate and optical motion capture device will record bone motion with controlled ground reaction forces. In Design 2, the device will be modified to be compatible with imaging technologies such as dynamic computed tomography (CT), weight-bearing CT, and dual-fluoroscopy to capture more comprehensive bone motion and loading of the foot and ankle with the robotic control of intrinsic and extrinsic muscles of the foot. This robotic device will be used to facilitate experiments and model identification of the foot's role in load bearing, whole body stability, and locomotion. The robotic device will provide a rich training environment for HQP allowing new research applications and industrial product development of footwear, prosthetic feet, orthotic devices, and wearable sensors in both academia and industry.