University of Hull, School of Life Sciences, Hull, United Kingdom.
PhysioFunction Ltd., Chris Moody Centre, Moulton College, Moulton, United Kingdom.
Clin Biomech (Bristol). 2020 Dec;80:105133. doi: 10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2020.105133. Epub 2020 Jul 29.
Overground lower-limb robotic exoskeletons are assistive devices used to facilitate ambulation and gait rehabilitation. Our understanding of how closely they resemble comfortable and slow walking is limited. This information is important to maximise the effects of gait rehabilitation. The aim was to compare the 3D gait parameters of able-bodied individuals walking with and without an exoskeleton at two speeds (self-selected comfortable vs. slow, speed-matched to the exoskeleton) to understand how the user's body moved within the device.
Eight healthy, able-bodied individuals walked along a 12-m walkway with and without the exoskeleton. Three-dimensional whole-body kinematics inside the device were captured. Temporal-spatial parameters and sagittal joint kinematics were determined for normal and exoskeleton walking. One-way repeated measures ANOVAs and statistical parametric mapping were used to compare the three walking conditions (P < .05).
The walking speeds of the slow (0.44[0.03] m/s) and exoskeleton (0.41[0.03] m/s) conditions were significantly slower than the comfortable walking speed (1.54[0.07] m/s). However, time in swing was significantly greater (P < .001, d = -3.64) and double support was correspondingly lower (P < .001, d = 3.72) during exoskeleton gait than slow walking, more closely resembling comfortable speed walking. Ankle and knee angles were significantly reduced in the slow and exoskeleton conditions. Angles were also significantly different for the upper body.
Although the slow condition was speed-matched to exoskeleton gait, the stance:swing ratio of exoskeleton stepping more closely resembled comfortable gait than slow gait. The altered upper body kinematics suggested that overground exoskeletons may provide a training environment that would also benefit balance training.
地面下肢机器人外骨骼是一种辅助设备，用于辅助行走和步态康复。我们对外骨骼如何接近舒适和缓慢行走的理解是有限的。这些信息对于最大限度地提高步态康复的效果很重要。目的是比较正常行走和使用外骨骼行走时的三维步态参数，以了解使用者在设备内的身体运动方式，外骨骼行走有两种速度（自我选择的舒适速度和与外骨骼匹配的缓慢速度）。
8 名健康的、有能力的个体在带有和不带有外骨骼的情况下沿着 12 米的步行道行走。在设备内捕获三维全身运动学。确定正常和外骨骼行走的时空参数和矢状关节运动学。使用单向重复测量方差分析和统计参数映射来比较三种行走条件（P<0.05）。
缓慢（0.44[0.03]m/s）和外骨骼（0.41[0.03]m/s）条件的行走速度明显慢于舒适行走速度（1.54[0.07]m/s）。然而，外骨骼步态中的摆动时间明显更长（P<0.001，d=-3.64），双支撑相应更低（P<0.001，d=3.72），更接近舒适速度行走。在缓慢和外骨骼条件下，踝关节和膝关节角度明显减小。上半身的角度也有明显的差异。
尽管缓慢条件与外骨骼步态速度匹配，但外骨骼步态的支撑：摆动比更接近舒适步态，而不是缓慢步态。改变的上半身运动学表明，地面外骨骼可能提供一种训练环境，也有益于平衡训练。
