Developments in lower limb exoskeletons for rehabilitation application

Abstract

As per the Census 2011, In India, 2.68 Crore people are disabled out of 121 crore population. Of these, 20 % of the people are suffering with disability in movement. Exoskeletons are for Augmenting, Assisting and Rehabilitating the needy people. Exoskeletons are mainly classified into Human augmentation, Assistive and Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation exoskeletons are used in Therapeutic training to bring the affected people into their normal life. In stroke patients and SCI affected people, normal walking becomes difficult. For these people, Gait training is given to restore. This could be with either fixed Setup on a Treadmill, preferably in Hospitals and Therapy centers or Mobile devices for personal use. Many devices are developed around the Globe for walking practice. Also, for Hip-knee-ankle-foot movement. Modular designs with Assist-when-needed technology make these models effective. Recently developed models are taken for review. Commercial models available in the market are also presented with their features.