NRI-Small: Chemo-Fludic Sleeve Muscle-Actuated Robotic Below-Knee Prostheses

描述(由申请人提供)：拟议的项目旨在开发一种紧凑和轻便的机器人假体，目的是显著提高美国40万名经胫骨(即膝下，BK)截肢者的健康和生活质量。在人类的运动中，脚踝扮演着重要的能量角色，比膝盖和臀部提供更多的正能量。然而，在现有的BK假体中，大多数假体的踝关节都是能量被动的，只有在使用中存储和消耗能量。不能发电严重损害了假体为截肢者恢复运动功能的能力。临床研究表明：与健康受试者相比，被动BK假体的截肢者表现出不对称的步态运动学和更多的能量消耗。为了解决这个问题，研究人员将探索一种创新的化学-流体袖状肌肉驱动系统来为BK假体提供动力。这一新系统的基础是两个关键元素：(1)袖式肌肉执行器，这是一种创新型肌肉执行器，具有非常高的功率密度(至少比直流电机高出十倍)；(2)高能量密度气动电源，能够在高度紧凑的封装中存储大量能量。有了这种高性能的驱动系统，假体有望满足人类运动带来的苛刻的功率要求，同时将假体的重量和高度降至最低，以扩大能够从新型动力BK假体中受益的截肢者人数。驱动技术的突破将与一种新的意图识别和运动控制算法相辅相成，预计该算法将以高度交互的方式提供用户所需的运动。该控制系统基于用户推断的运动意图识别所需的运动模式，并通过基于阻抗的运动控制器生成所需的关节扭矩命令，该运动控制器实现用户和假肢之间的物理交互。机器人假体和相应的控制系统将进行进一步测试，以表征其相对于最先进的被动BK假体的生物力学优势。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed project aims to develop a compact and light-weight robotic prosthesis, with the objective of significantly enhancing the health and life quality of the 400,000 transtibial (i.e., below-knee, BK) amputees in the United States. In human locomotion, the ankle plays an important energetic role, and supplies substantially more positive power than the knee and hip. However, in the majority of existing BK prostheses, the prosthetic ankle joints are energetic passive, only storing and dissipating energy in use. The inability to generate power significantly impairs the prosthesis' capability of restoring the locomotive functions for the amputee user. Clinical studies indicate:that amputees wearing passive BK prostheses exhibit asymmetric gait kinematics and expend significantly more energy in comparison with healthy subjects. To address this issue, the investigators will explore an innovative chemo-fluidic sleeve muscle actuation system to power the BK prostheses. Two key elements form the basis of this new system: (1) Sleeve muscle actuator, an innovative muscle actuator with very high power density (at least ten times higher than DC motor); (2) Highenergy- density pneumatic supply, which is able to store a large amount of energy within a highly compact package. With this high-performance actuation system, the prosthesis is anticipated to meet the demanding power requirements imposed by the human locomotion, while minimizing the prosthesis weight and height to enlarge the amputee population that can benefit from the new powered BK prosthesis. The breakthrough in actuation technology will be complemented with a novel intent recognition and motion control algorithm, which is anticipated to provide the user's desired motion in a highly interactive manner. This control system identifies the desired locomotive pattern based on the user's inferred motion intent, and generates the desired joint torque command though ah impedance-based motion controller that enables physical interaction between the user and the prosthesis. The robotic prosthesis and the corresponding control system will be further tested to characterize its biomechanical benefits relative to state-of-the-art passive BK prostheses.