RIKEN (The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research), BTCC (BSI-Toyota Collaboration Center), Anagahora, Shimoshidami Moriyama-ku, Nagoya, Japan.
Gait Posture. 2012 Feb;35(2):316-21. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2011.10.002. Epub 2011 Dec 12.
The evolutionarily novel ability to keep ones body upright while standing or walking, the human balance, deteriorates in old age or can be compromised after accidents or brain surgeries. With the aged society, age related balance problems are on the rise. Persons with balance problems are more likely to fall during their everyday life routines. Especially in elderly, falls can lead to bone fractures making the patient bedridden, weakening the body and making it more prone to other diseases. Health care expenses for a fall patient are often very high. There is a great deal of research being done on exoskeletons and power assists. However, these technologies concentrate mainly on the amplifications of human muscle power while balance has to be provided by the human themself. Our research has been focused on supporting human balance in harmony with the human's own posture control mechanisms such as postural reflexes. This paper proposes an artificial balancer that supports human balance through acceleration of a flywheel attached to the body. Appropriate correcting torques are generated through our device based on the measurements of body deflections. We have carried out experiments with test persons standing on a platform subject to lateral perturbations and ambulatory experiments while walking on a balance beam. These experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of our device in supporting balance and the possibility of enhancing balance-keeping capability in human beings through the application of external torque.
保持身体直立的能力是人类在站立或行走时特有的，这种能力随着年龄的增长而逐渐下降，或者在事故或脑部手术后受到影响。随着人口老龄化，与年龄相关的平衡问题日益增多。平衡问题患者在日常生活中更容易摔倒。尤其是老年人，摔倒可能导致骨折，使患者卧床不起，身体虚弱，更容易患上其他疾病。摔倒患者的医疗费用往往很高。目前，人们正在对外骨骼和动力辅助装置进行大量研究。然而，这些技术主要集中在增强人体肌肉力量，而平衡则需要人体自身来提供。我们的研究一直致力于通过加速连接在人体上的飞轮来支持人体平衡，与人体自身的姿势控制机制（如姿势反射）和谐一致。本文提出了一种通过测量身体的偏移量来产生适当的校正扭矩的人工平衡器。我们已经在平台上对测试人员进行了侧向扰动的站立实验和在平衡木上行走的步行实验。这些实验证明了我们的设备在支持平衡方面的有效性，并通过应用外部扭矩增强人体保持平衡的能力的可能性。
