Goldfarb Michael, Korkowski Kurt, Harrold Brent, Durfee William
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA.
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2003 Sep;11(3):241-8. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2003.816873.
A hybrid functional-electrical stimulation (FES) gait system that incorporates a computer-controlled orthosis system has been developed to address the problems of rapid muscle fatigue and poor movement control that are characteristic of FES-aided gait. The orthosis is a long-leg brace that contains controllable friction brakes at both hip and knee joints. The system achieves desirable limb trajectories by utilizing the stimulated muscles as a source of unregulated power and regulating the power at each joint by computer control of the friction brakes. Muscle fatigue is reduced by locking the controllable brakes to provide the isometric joint torques necessary during stance. The hybrid gait system was evaluated and compared to conventional four channel FES-aided gait using four subjects with paraplegia. The results demonstrated significant reduction in muscle fatigue and improvement in trajectory control when using the orthosis combined with FES compared to using FES alone. Results for distance and speed improvements varied across subjects. Considerable work remains in the design of the hardware before the system is feasible for use outside the laboratory.
一种结合了计算机控制矫形系统的混合功能性电刺激（FES）步态系统已被开发出来，以解决FES辅助步态中快速肌肉疲劳和运动控制不佳的问题，这些问题是FES辅助步态的特征。该矫形器是一种长腿支架，在髋关节和膝关节处均设有可控摩擦制动器。该系统通过将受刺激的肌肉作为不受调节的动力源，并通过计算机控制摩擦制动器来调节每个关节的动力，从而实现理想的肢体轨迹。通过锁定可控制动器以提供站立期间所需的等长关节扭矩，可减少肌肉疲劳。使用四名截瘫受试者对混合步态系统进行了评估，并与传统的四通道FES辅助步态进行了比较。结果表明，与单独使用FES相比，使用矫形器与FES相结合时，肌肉疲劳显著减少，轨迹控制得到改善。不同受试者在距离和速度改善方面的结果各不相同。在该系统可在实验室外使用之前，硬件设计仍有大量工作要做。
