Gonçalves Rogério Sales, Krebs Hermano Igo
Federal University of Uberlândia/Brazil, School of Mechanical Engineering, Av. João Naves de Ávila 2121 Campus Santa Monica CX 593, Uberlândia, MG, CEP 38408-100, Brazil.
Mechanical Engineering Department, The Eric P. and Evelyn E. Newman Laboratory for Biomechanics and Human Rehabilitation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT, Boston, USA.
J Neuroeng Rehabil. 2017 Sep 6;14(1):88. doi: 10.1186/s12984-017-0302-6.
To provide body weight support during walking and balance training, one can employ two distinct embodiments: support through a harness hanging from an overhead system or support through a saddle/seat type. This paper presents a comparison of these two approaches. Ultimately, this comparison determined our selection of the body weight support system employed in the MIT-Skywalker, a robotic device developed for the rehabilitation/habilitation of gait and balance after a neurological injury.
Here we will summarize our results with eight healthy subjects walking on the treadmill without any support, with 30% unloading supported by a harness hanging from an overhead system, and with a saddle/seat-like support system. We compared the center of mass as well as vertical and mediolateral trunk displacements across different walking speeds and support.
The bicycle/saddle system had the highest values for the mediolateral inclination, while the overhead harness body weight support showed the lowest values at all speeds. The differences were statistically significant.
We selected the bicycle/saddle system for the MIT-Skywalker. It allows faster don-and-doff, better centers the patient to the split treadmill, and allows all forms of training. The overhead harness body weight support might be adequate for rhythmic walking training but limits any potential for balance training.
为在步行和平衡训练期间提供体重支持，可采用两种不同的方式：通过悬挂在头顶系统上的吊带提供支持或通过鞍座/座椅类型提供支持。本文对这两种方法进行了比较。最终，通过此次比较确定了我们在麻省理工学院天行者机器人（一种为神经损伤后步态和平衡康复/ habilitation开发的机器人设备）中所采用的体重支持系统。
在此，我们将总结八名健康受试者在跑步机上行走时的结果，包括无任何支持、由悬挂在头顶系统上的吊带提供30%卸载支持以及使用鞍座/座椅样支持系统的情况。我们比较了不同步行速度和支持条件下的质心以及垂直和内外侧躯干位移。
自行车/鞍座系统的内外侧倾斜度值最高，而头顶吊带体重支持在所有速度下的值最低。差异具有统计学意义。
我们为麻省理工学院天行者机器人选择了自行车/鞍座系统。它允许更快地穿脱，能更好地将患者置于分体跑步机的中心位置，并允许进行所有形式的训练。头顶吊带体重支持可能适用于有节奏的步行训练，但限制了平衡训练的任何可能性。
