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- All Subjects: Bioengineering
Description
Muscular weakness is a common manifestation for Stroke survivors and for patients with Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction leading to reduced functional independence, especially mobility. Several rigid orthotic devices are being designed to assist mobility. However, limitations in majority of these devices are: 1) that they are constrained only to level walking applications, 2) are mostly bulky and rigid lacking user comfort. For these reasons, rehabilitation using soft-robotics can serve as a powerful modality in gait assistance and potentially accelerate functional recovery. The characteristics of soft robotic exosuit is that it’s more flexible, delivers high power to weight ratio, and conforms with the user’s body structure making it a suitable choice. This work explores the implementation of an existing soft robotic exosuit in assisting knee joint mechanism during stair ascent for patients with muscular weakness. The exosuit assists by compensating the lack of joint moment and minimizing the load on the affected limb. It consists of two I-cross-section soft pneumatic actuators encased within a sleeve along with insole sensor shoes and control electronics. The exosuit actuators were mechanically characterized at different angles, in accordance to knee flexion in stair gait, to enable the generation of the desired joint moments. A linear relation between the actuator stiffness and internal pressure as a function of the knee angle was obtained. Results from this characterization along with the insole sensor outputs were used to provide assistance to the knee joint. Analysis of stair gait with and without the exosuit ‘active’ was performed, using surface electromyography (sEMG) sensors, for two healthy participants at a slow walking speed. Preliminary user testing with the exosuit presented a promising 16% reduction in average muscular activity of Vastus Lateralis muscle and a 3.6% reduction on Gluteus Maximus muscle during the stance phase and unrestrained motion during the swing phase of ascent thereby demonstrating the applicability of the soft-inflatable exosuit in rehabilitation.
ContributorsMuthukrishnan, Niveditha (Author) / Polygerinos, Panagiotis (Thesis advisor) / Lockhart, Thurmon (Committee member) / Peterson, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Military personnel are affected by muscle fatigue during the various missions and training regimens for their work. Muscle fatigue is caused by the overuse and lack of nutrients to muscles. When a soldier is fatigued, they are unable to perform at their maximum potential and are also more susceptible to injury. For military personnel to save time and money as well as become more efficient within the missions they deploy soldiers, muscle fatigue should be predicted. Predicting fatigue will allow for a reduced rate of negative exercise-related impacts. This means that soldiers will be able to avoid potential life threatening situations they encounter due to the muscle fatigue. The newest technology in wearable devices includes clothing that incorporates heart rate monitors, breathing rate and breathing depth sensors, and a database that converts this information into the amount of calories burned during a workout. Fatigue can be tracked and predicted in the military using wearable clothing with activity sensors, preventing further injury to the soldiers and optimizing performance output at all times. For military personnel, the ability to predict fatigue using this technology would be beneficial to the soldiers and the military as a whole.
ContributorsFalk, Brady Thomas (Author) / Lockhart, Thurmon (Thesis director) / Williams, Deborah (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05