A Novel robotic walker for over-ground gait rehabilitation

Abstract

Recovery from impaired gait of stroke patients is in increasing need. Conventional robotic gait rehabilitation systems based on treadmill restrict pelvic horizontal motion and lack of presenting natural gait patterns with actual foot contact on the ground. To overcome these limitations, we proposed a novel robotic walker for gait rehabilitation. It consists of an active omni-directional mobile platform and a body weight support (BWS) unit to assist gait motions. The control algorithm automatically executes force assistance during gait. 3 healthy young subjects were recruited to evaluate force assistance of robotic walker. Recorded assistive forces of the walker to pelvis showed beneficial influence.