Enhancing Voluntary Motion in Broad Patient Populations with Modular Powered Orthoses

项目摘要 该项目的总体目标是开发适合特定用户的模块化、双腿、动力矫形器 在广大患者中削弱关节和控制力/扭矩，以增强自主运动 人口。传统的矫形器倾向于固定关节，而新兴的动力矫形器限制了关节的活动 通过使用高齿轮电机和/或控制方法，迫使用户遵循 特定的步态模式。因此，这些设备并没有在人群中获得广泛的成功 由于中风、高龄或肌肉骨骼疾病而导致的自主性控制能力减弱。这些异类 在日常活动中，人群需要用户特定肌肉群的部分(而不是全部)协助。然而， 在如何设计和控制电动矫形器以帮助用户的知识方面存在着根本的差距 而不会限制它们的运动。这个项目的中心假设是高扭矩、低惯性马达 由能量目标控制的系统将使模块化动力矫形器能够部分帮助关节。 与最小传动相结合的高扭矩电机可以自由旋转(即，反向驱动) 人体关节，允许使用一种名为能量整形的新兴扭矩控制方法来减少 身体在任何运动过程中感觉到的重量/惯性。通过将这些模块化执行器安装到商业 矫形器，这项技术将很容易被临床医生处方/配置。该项目的目标如下： 目标1：开发设计范例，使后驱动、模块化动力矫形器成为可能。 假设：低传动比、高扭矩的“煎饼”电机将提供高输出扭矩、低后驱力。 在轻型动力矫形器关节模块中实现扭矩、低噪音和能效。 目标2：开发扭矩控制范例，以促进矫形器中的自愿运动辅助。 假设：部分辅助矫形器的模块化关节配置将通过选择性地提供扭矩辅助 通过能量塑造减轻人体内的质量和惯性。 目的3：建立模块化动力矫形器辅助不同人群的可行性。 假设：用模块化动力矫形器辅助下肢肌肉系统将改善功能结果 在慢性中风或骨质疏松症的受试者中，并在健全的受试者中改善抬/降姿势。 该项目对模块化动力矫形器的设计具有重要的技术意义。 自主运动，对理解如何控制身体能量部分辅助具有科学意义 不同的关节以任务不变的方式，对POWERED的广泛采用具有临床意义 在自愿控制能力减弱的广大人群中恢复活动能力的矫形器。灵活的援助 这种模块化矫形器技术将对数十人的移动性和生活质量产生深远影响 根据美国疾病控制与预防中心的数据，数百万美国人中有近1/8的成年人行动不便。

PROJECT ABSTRACT The overall goal of this project is to develop modular, lower-limb, powered orthoses that fit to user-specific weakened joints and control force/torque in a manner that enhances voluntary motion in broad patient populations. Conventional orthoses tend to immobilize joints, and emerging powered orthoses constrain voluntary motion by using highly geared electric motors and/or control methods that force the user to follow a specific gait pattern. Consequently, these devices have not seen widespread success across populations with weakened voluntary control due to stroke, advanced age, or musculoskeletal disorders. These heterogeneous populations require partial, not full, assistance of user-specific muscle groups during daily activities. However, there is a fundamental gap in knowledge about how to design and control powered orthoses to assist the user without constraining their motion. The central hypothesis of this project is that high-torque, low-inertia motor systems controlled with energetic objectives will enable modular powered orthoses to partially assist the joints. High-torque electric motors combined with minimal transmissions can be freely rotated (i.e., backdriven) by human joints, allowing the use of an emerging torque control method called energy shaping to reduce the perceived weight/inertia of the body during any motion. By mounting these modular actuators to commercial orthoses, this technology will be easily prescribed/configured by clinicians. The project aims are as follows: Aim 1: Develop design paradigm to enable backdrivable, modular powered orthoses. Hypothesis: A torque-dense “pancake” motor with a low gear ratio will provide high output torque, low backdrive torque, low acoustic noise, and energy efficiency in lightweight, powered orthosis joint modules. Aim 2: Develop torque control paradigm to facilitate voluntary motion assistance in orthoses. Hypothesis: Modular joint configurations of partial-assist orthoses will provide torque assistance by selectively offloading mass and inertia in the human body through energy shaping. Aim 3: Establish feasibility of assisting different populations with modular powered orthoses. Hypothesis: Assisting lower-limb musculature with modular powered orthoses will improve functional outcomes in subjects with chronic stroke or sarcopenia, and improve lifting/lowering posture in able-bodied subjects. This project will be technologically significant to the design of modular powered orthoses for enhancing voluntary motion, scientifically significant to understanding how to control body energetics to partially assist different joints in a task-invariant manner, and clinically significant to the widespread adoption of powered orthoses to restore mobility in broad populations with weakened voluntary control. The flexible assistance offered by this modular orthosis technology will have a profound impact on mobility and quality of life for tens of millions of Americans, as nearly 1 in 8 adults have a mobility limitation according to the U.S. CDC.