University of Delaware

Sai Banala

Sunil K Agrawal

Stuart Binder-Macleod

Kalyan K Mankala

Abhishek Agrawal

Gait training apparatus and method for use thereof for providing leg swing assistance to a patient. The apparatus comprises a support structure and one or more leg orthoses attached to the support structure, each leg orthosis comprising a thigh member attached to the support structure at a hip joint, and a shank member attached to the thigh member at a knee joint. Both members have respective connectors for securing them to the corresponding body parts of the patient. The hip joint and knee joint are each biased by biasing members. The support structure may comprise a frame defining a patient activity region, including a base, a back support, a pair of support handles, and a weight support member mounted above the activity region. A method of using the device comprises selecting parameters for the biasing members using information about the patient.

Passive swing assist leg exoskeleton

A powered orthosis, adapted to be secured to a corresponding body portion of the user for guiding motion of a user, the orthosis comprising a plurality of structural members and one or more joints adjoining adjacent structural members, each joint having one or more degrees of freedom and a range of joint angles. One or more of the joints each comprise at least one back-drivable actuator governed by a controller for controlling the joint angle. The plurality of joint controllers are synchronized to cause the corresponding actuators to generate forces for assisting the user to move the orthosis at least in part under the user's power along a desired trajectory within an allowed tolerance. One embodiment comprises force-field controllers that define a virtual tunnel for movement of the orthosis, in which the forces applied to the orthosis for assisting the user may be proportional to deviation from the desired trajectory.

Powered orthosis

An ankle-foot orthosis comprising a leg member; a foot member; a frameconnecting the leg member to the foot member, wherein the frame comprises a first revolute jointthat rotates about a first axisand a second revolute jointthat rotates about a second axis, wherein the first and second axes are non-parallel. The frame can further comprise a foot member segmentsecured to the foot memberand extending to the second revolute joint. The orthosis can comprise a first force-torque sensorlocated on the leg member, a second force-torque sensorlocated on the foot member, and an encoder positioned on one of the revolute joints. The invention includes a method of measuring ankle-foot-related forces comprising positioning a subject's leg and foot in an ankle-foot orthosis; collecting data from the first and second force-torque sensors; and analyzing the collected data to determine the motion of the subject's ankle.

Growing community of inventors

Hamden, CT, United States of America

Sai Banala