title: Rehabilitative Soft Exoskeleton for Rodents.
abstract: Robotic exoskeletons provide programmable, consistent and controllable active therapeutic assistance to patients with neurological disorders. Here we introduce a prototype and preliminary experimental evaluation of a rehabilitative gait exoskeleton that enables compliant yet effective manipulation of the fragile limbs of rats. To assist the displacements of the lower limbs without impeding natural gait movements, we designed and fabricated soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs). The exoskeleton integrates two customizable SPAs that are attached to a limb. This configuration enables a 1 N force load, a range of motion exceeding 80 mm in the major axis, and speed of actuation reaching two gait cycles/s. Preliminary experiments in rats with spinal cord injury validated the basic features of the exoskeleton. We propose strategies to improve the performance of the robot and discuss the potential of SPAs for the design of other wearable interfaces.
authors.forename: Juan Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Florez
authors.forename: Manan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Eduardo Martin
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Moraud
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wurth
authors.forename: Laetitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baud
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Von Zitzewitz
authors.forename: Rubia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: van den Brand
authors.forename: Silvestro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Micera
authors.forename: Gregoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Courtine
authors.forename: Jamie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001186:Artificial Limbs / Q000662:veterinary*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000662:veterinary; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D000067190:Exoskeleton Device / Q000662:veterinary*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D000066530:Neurological Rehabilitation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012371:Robotics / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome