title: On the control of the MIT-skywalker.
abstract: Walking impairments are a common sequela of neurological injury, severely affecting the quality of life of both adults and children. Gait therapy is the traditional approach to ameliorate the problem by re-training the nervous system and there have been some attempts to mechanize such approach. In this paper, we present a novel device to deliver gait therapy, which, in contrast to previous approaches, takes advantage of the concept of passive walkers and the natural dynamics of the lower extremity in order to deliver more "ecological" therapy. We also discuss the closed-loop control scheme, which enables safe and efficient operation of the device, and present the initial feasibility tests with unimpaired subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. partern@mit.edu
authors.forename: Panagiotis K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Artemiadis
authors.forename: Hermano Igo
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Krebs
mesh_terms: D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005080:Exercise Test / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005246:Feedback; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013813:Therapy, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation*