Development of a soft-inflatable exosuit for knee rehabilitation

Saivimal Sridar, Pham H. Nguyen, Mengjia Zhu, Quoc P. Lam, Panagiotis Polygerinos

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    60 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    This paper presents the design, development and preliminary evaluation of a soft-inflatable exosuit for knee rehabilitation. Soft-inflatable actuators made of heat-sealable thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) materials are fabricated in two different beam-like structures (I and O cross-section actuators) and mechanically characterized for their torque performance in knee-extension assistance. The fabrication procedure of both types of actuators is presented as well as their integration into a lightweight, low-cost and body-conforming interface. To detect the activation duration of the device during the gait cycle, a soft-silicone insole with embedded force-sensitive resistors (FSRs) is used. In evaluation studies, the soft-inflatable exosuit device is tested for its ability to reduce muscle activity during the swing phase of the knee. Using sEMG (surface electromyography) sensors, the rectus femoris muscle group of a healthy individual is recorded while walking on a treadmill at a constant speed, with and without the soft device. Preliminary testing presents a promising 7% reduction in muscle activity and demonstrates the applicability of the soft-inflatable exosuit in knee rehabilitation scenarios.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Title of host publicationIROS 2017 - IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
    PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
    Pages3722-3727
    Number of pages6
    ISBN (Electronic)9781538626825
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Dec 13 2017
    Event2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2017 - Vancouver, Canada
    Duration: Sep 24 2017Sep 28 2017

    Publication series

    NameIEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
    Volume2017-September
    ISSN (Print)2153-0858
    ISSN (Electronic)2153-0866

    Other

    Other2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2017
    Country/TerritoryCanada
    CityVancouver
    Period9/24/179/28/17

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Control and Systems Engineering
    • Software
    • Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
    • Computer Science Applications

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