Wan Xianglong, Liu Yi, Akiyama Yasuhiro, Yamada Yoji
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2020 Apr;28(4):869-877. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2020.2979986. Epub 2020 Mar 11.
Interaction forces between a robotic cuff and the skin during assisted walking with a lower limb exoskeleton may cause skin injuries over time, such as blisters and ulcers. This study proposes a sensing cuff that can monitor the contact behavior between the exoskeleton and skin during assisted walking, and a functional test and assisted walking experiments were conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed device. The functional test of the sensing cuff showed good performance of capturing the contact behavior for safety evaluation. The walking experiment involved subjects walking on a treadmill with a lower limb exoskeleton under different conditions (i.e., walking speed and clothing), and the sensing cuff attached to the exoskeleton measured the interaction forces and slip velocity. The magnitude of shear force in the movement direction peaked near the beginning and within 40 - 50% of the gait cycle. The contact safety of the lower limb exoskeleton during assisted walking was then evaluated based on the calculated shear stress. The designed sensing cuff could provide sufficient information regarding contact behavior and contact safety during assisted walking.
在使用下肢外骨骼辅助行走过程中，机器人袖带与皮肤之间的相互作用力随着时间推移可能会导致皮肤损伤，如水泡和溃疡。本研究提出了一种传感袖带，其能够在辅助行走期间监测外骨骼与皮肤之间的接触行为，并进行了功能测试和辅助行走实验以评估所提出装置的性能。传感袖带的功能测试显示出在捕获用于安全评估的接触行为方面具有良好性能。行走实验让受试者在不同条件（即行走速度和衣物）下穿着下肢外骨骼在跑步机上行走，附着在外骨骼上的传感袖带测量相互作用力和滑动速度。运动方向上的剪切力大小在步态周期开始附近以及40 - 50%范围内达到峰值。然后基于计算出的剪应力评估辅助行走期间下肢外骨骼的接触安全性。所设计的传感袖带能够提供关于辅助行走期间接触行为和接触安全性的充分信息。
