Development of a Rehabilitation Robot Combined with Functional Electrical Stimulation Controlled by Non-disabled...

We developed a rehabilitation robot to assist hemiplegics with gait exercises. The robot was combined with functional electrical stimulation (FES) of the affected side and was controlled by a real-time-feedback system that attempted to replicate the lower extremity movements of the non-affected limb on the affected side. We measured the reproducibility of the non-affected limb movements on the affected side using FES in non-disabled individuals and evaluated the smoothness of the resulting motion.

Ten healthy men participated in this study. The left side was defined as the non-affected side. The measured hip and knee joint angles of the non-affected side were reproduced on the pseudo-paralytic side using the robot's motors. The right quadriceps was stimulated with FES. Joint angles were measured with a motion capture system. We assessed the reproducibility of the amplitude from the maximum angle of flexion to extension during the walking cycle. The smoothness of the motion was evaluated using the angular jerk cost (AJC).

The amplitude reproduction (%) was 87.9 ± 6.2 (mean ± standard deviation) and 71.5 ± 10.7 for the hip and knee joints, respectively. The walking cycle reproduction rate was 99.9 ± 0.1 and 99.8 ± 0.2 for the hip and knee joints, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between results with FES versus those without FES. The AJC of the robot side was significantly smaller than that of the non-affected side.

A master-slave gait rehabilitation system has not previously been attempted in hemiplegic patients. Our rehabilitation robot showed high reproducibility of motion on the affected side.