A Wearable Hip Assist Robot Can Improve Gait Function and Cardiopulmonary Metabolic Efficiency in Elderly Adults

Abstract

The aims of this paper were to investigate the effectiveness of a newly developed wearable hip assist robot, that uses an active assist algorithm to improve gait function, muscle effort, and cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency in elderly adults. Thirty elderly adults (15 males/ 15 females) participated in thispaper. The experimental protocol consisted of overground gait at comfortable speed under three different conditions: free gait without robot assistance, robot-assisted gait with zero torque (RAG-Z), and full RAG. Under all conditions, muscle effort was analyzed using a 12-channel surface electromyography system. Spatio-temporal data were collected at 120 Hz using a 3-D motion capture system with six infrared cameras. Metabolic cost parameters were collected as oxygen consumption per unit (ml/min/kg) and aerobic energy expenditure (Kcal/min). In the RAG condition, participants demonstrated improved gait function, decreased muscle effort, and reduced metabolic cost. Although the hip assist robot only provides assistance at the hip joint, our results demonstrated a clear reduction in knee and ankle muscle activity in addition to decreased hip flexor and extensor activity. Our findings suggest that this robot has the potential to improve stabilization of the trunk during walking in elderly adults.

The exoskeleton expansion: improving walking and running economy

“…Seventeen publications presented improved human walking and/or running economy using an exoskeleton versus without using a device during preferred levelground conditions: twelve exoskeletons improved walking economy [11][12][13][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33], four improved running economy [14,15,17,18], and one improved both walking and running economy [16] versus using no device ( Fig. 2).…”

What Do Older Adults and Clinicians Think About Traditional Mobility Aids and Exoskeleton Technology?

“…Several exoskeleton prototypes are being developed to assist people with mobility impairments including older adults. Age-related changes in gait function (e.g., decreased walking speed, shorter step length, increased step variability, and reduced range of motion at the hip, knee, and ankle joints) and decreased metabolic efficiency for walking strongly affect the ability to perform daily activities [13,31]. Improving walking function is therefore an important focus when developing exoskeletons for older adults.…”

“…Improving walking function is therefore an important focus when developing exoskeletons for older adults. Lab studies with older adults showed that the Gait Enhancing Mechatronic System (GEMS)-a wearable hip exoskeleton that provides walking assistance-can improve gait function and cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency and reduce muscle effort [13,14]. In other work, seven older adult men walked on a treadmill at a constant speed for 50 minutes both with and without wearing a robotic hip exoskeleton called the Stride Assistance System (SAS) [31].…”

Wearable Hip-assist Robot Modulates Cortical Activation during Gait in Stroke Patients: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

“…The Gait Enhancing and Motivating System-Hip (GEMS-H), developed by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Suwon, Republic of Korea), is a hip-type robotic exoskeleton. Our previous studies showed that GEMS-H improved gait function, muscle efficiency, and cardiopulmonary metabolic efficiency [7][8][9][10]. However, it is not yet known how GEMS-H assisted gait training modulates cortical activity of stroke patients.…”