In this study, we evaluate the support effect of a knee orthosis that uses the elasticity element from the perspective of human motor control. The speeds during level-ground walking and the angles during slope walking were varied during the experiments. It was observed that the support effect was remarkable at 4 km/h during the level-ground walking. In particular, at 12° during slope walking, the strength of the stretching muscle decreased for the knee joint in the stance phase and the hip joint in the swing phase. The results show that this orthosis exhibits a different effect from the conventional type adjustment to damping in the swing phase.
The muscle-tendon units of human beings are helpful for minimizing the energy costs during walking. Therefore, proper use of characteristics of these units is effective for walking support and performance improvement. The knee orthosis proposed by the aurthors is composed of a ball screw and linear spring, and elastic energy during walking can be stored and reused. Walking experiments of the apparatus were carried out both on the flat ground and a slope, and the knee orthoses particularly reduced muscle activities for an upslope walking. Through the analysis of ankle equilibrium point trajectory and stiffness based on kinematics data and EMG signals this study shows that the energy storage and reuse of the knee orthoses decreases muscle activities related to knee extension of radial direction during the stance phase and hip extension of argument direction during the swing phase.
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