IEEE Trans Biomed Eng. 2023 Dec;70(12):3312-3320. doi: 10.1109/TBME.2023.3282165. Epub 2023 Nov 21.
Genu recurvatum, or knee hyperextension, is a complex gait pattern with a variety of etiologies, and is often connected with knee weakness, lack of motor control, and spasticity. Because of the atypical forces placed on the soft tissues, early treatment or prevention of knee hyperextension may help prevent further degradation of the knee joint. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of a knee exoskeleton to mitigate hyperextension and increase swing range of motion in five children/adolescents who presented with unilateral genu recurvatum. Over the course of three visits, each participant practiced walking with the exoskeleton, which provided torque assistance during both stance and swing based on an impedance control law. In final validation trials, the exoskeleton was effective in reducing knee hyperextension (0.2 ± 4.7° average peak knee extension without exo to 9.9 ± 10.3° with exo) and improving swing range of motion by 14.0 ± 4.5° increase on average. However, while the exoskeleton was effective in normalizing the kinematics, it did not lead to improved spatio-temporal asymmetry measures. This work showcases a promising potential application of a robotic knee exoskeleton for improving the kinematic characteristics of genu recurvatum gait.
膝过伸，又称膝盖过度伸展，是一种复杂的步态模式，有多种病因，常与膝盖无力、运动控制不足和痉挛有关。由于软组织承受的非典型力，早期治疗或预防膝过伸可能有助于防止膝关节进一步恶化。在这项研究中，我们评估了膝关节外骨骼减轻过伸和增加 5 名单侧膝过伸儿童/青少年摆动运动范围的可行性。在三次访问中，每个参与者都练习了使用外骨骼行走，外骨骼根据阻抗控制定律在站立和摆动阶段提供扭矩辅助。在最后的验证试验中，外骨骼有效地减少了膝盖过伸（没有外骨骼时平均峰值膝盖伸展为 0.2°±4.7°，使用外骨骼时为 9.9°±10.3°），并平均增加了 14.0°±4.5°的摆动运动范围。然而，虽然外骨骼在外骨骼有效地使运动学正常化，但它并没有导致时空不对称性测量的改善。这项工作展示了一种有前途的机器人膝关节外骨骼应用，可改善膝过伸步态的运动学特征。
