Design of an innovative gait-assistive active orthosis for incomplete spinal cord injured subjects based on motion analysis and prediction methods and complex musculoskeletal models

Abstract

In a previous project, the team has investigated the use of multibody dynamics techniques for the design of active orthoses for gait assistance and a first prototype has been built for validation. Based on the acquired background and the achieved results, it is now time of addressing the design of an innovative active orthosis with potential for future commercialization. To this aim, three lines of action are defined: a) mechanical design, seeking improvements in subject comfort and reduction of device energy comsumption, and exploring alternative systems for knee locking and actuation; b) control, adding electromyography (EMG) and functional electrical stimulation (FES) to the existing sensors and actuators, respectively, and developing control strategies based on muscular models; c) simulation, pursuing a more accurate muscular modeling of injured subjects able to consider FES input, further detailing the model of injured subject and orthosis so as to give support to the lines of mechanical design and control, and implementing an algorithm for human motion prediction. All the three lines are strongly connected and, therefore, coordination will be an essential issue. The project is expected to contribute to the further consolidation of an interdisciplinary team of engineers, physicians and orthopedists, and to yield both scientific and technological results, thus providing a suitable position to address future challenges in an innovative field with huge social and medical impact.