Department of Biomedical Engineering, Colombian School of Engineering Julio Garavito, Bogotá 111166, Colombia.
EPF-Graduate School of Engineering, F-92330 Sceaux, France.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 May 7;21(9):3242. doi: 10.3390/s21093242.
Smart walkers are commonly used as potential gait assistance devices, to provide physical and cognitive assistance within rehabilitation and clinical scenarios. To understand such rehabilitation processes, several biomechanical studies have been conducted to assess human gait with passive and active walkers. Several sessions were conducted with 11 healthy volunteers to assess three interaction strategies based on passive, low and high mechanical stiffness values on the AGoRA Smart Walker. The trials were carried out in a motion analysis laboratory. Kinematic data were also collected from the smart walker sensory interface. The interaction force between users and the device was recorded. The force required under passive and low stiffness modes was 56.66% and 67.48% smaller than the high stiffness mode, respectively. An increase of 17.03% for the hip range of motion, as well as the highest trunk's inclination, were obtained under the resistive mode, suggesting a compensating motion to exert a higher impulse force on the device. Kinematic and physical interaction data suggested that the high stiffness mode significantly affected the users' gait pattern. Results suggested that users compensated their kinematics, tilting their trunk and lower limbs to exert higher impulse forces on the device.
智能助行器通常被用作潜在的步态辅助设备，在康复和临床环境中提供身体和认知方面的辅助。为了理解这些康复过程，已经进行了几项生物力学研究，以评估被动和主动助行器下的人体步态。对 11 名健康志愿者进行了几次测试，以评估基于 AGoRA 智能助行器的被动、低和高机械刚度值的三种交互策略。试验在运动分析实验室进行。还从智能助行器的感应接口收集了运动学数据。记录了使用者与设备之间的相互作用力。在被动和低刚度模式下，所需的力分别比高刚度模式小 56.66%和 67.48%。在阻力模式下，髋关节活动范围增加了 17.03%，同时躯干倾斜度最高，这表明为了对设备施加更高的冲击力，人体会进行补偿运动。运动学和物理相互作用数据表明，高刚度模式显著影响了使用者的步态模式。结果表明，使用者通过倾斜躯干和下肢来补偿运动学，从而对设备施加更高的冲击力。
