title: WAKE-Up Exoskeleton to Assist Children With Cerebral Palsy: Design and Preliminary Evaluation in Level Walking.
abstract: This paper presents the modular design and control of a novel compliant lower limbmulti-joint exoskeleton for the rehabilitation of ankle kneemobility and locomotion of pediatric patients with neurological diseases, such as Cerebral Palsy (CP). The device consists of an untethered powered knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO), addressed as WAKE-up (Wearable Ankle Knee Exoskeleton), characterized by a position control and capable of operating synchronously and synergistically with the human musculoskeletal system. The WAKE-up mechanical system, control architecture and feature extraction are described. Two test benches were used to mechanically characterize the device. The full system showed a maximum value of hysteresis equal to 8.8% and a maximum torque of 5.6 N m/rad. A pre-clinical use was performed, without body weight support, by four typically developing children and three children with CP. The aims were twofold: 1) to test the structure under weight-bearing conditions and 2) to ascertain its ability to provide appropriate assistance to the ankle and the knee during overground walking in a real environment. Results confirm the effectiveness of the WAKE-up design in providing torque assistance in accordance to the volitionalmovements especially in the recovery of correct foot landing at the start of the gait cycle.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patane
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Del Sette
authors.forename: Juri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taborri
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cappa
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D000067190:Exoskeleton Device; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking