Comparison of energy efficiency between Wearable Power-Assist Locomotor (WPAL) and two types of knee-ankle-foot orthoses with a medial single hip joint (MSH-KAFO)

Abstract

WPAL is a practical and energy efficient type of robotics that may be used by patients with paraplegia.

Energy Efficiency and Patient Satisfaction of Gait With Knee-Ankle-Foot Orthosis and Robot (ReWalk)-Assisted Gait in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

“…In particular, in the 30MWT, which is a long-distance walking test, there was a significant reduction in energy consumption without differences in distance and speed between the two groups. These results are in line with previous findings whereby RGO and WPAL had higher energy efficiencies during gait training than KAFO, with little change in PCI and HR [21,22].…”

“…Their results showed that gait speed and distance were better during walking with the exoskeleton robot than with KAFO braces. Moreover, energy efficiency (e.g., HR, PCI) was also higher while walking with exoskeleton robots [12,21,22].…”

“…Energy efficiency during walking was assessed based on seven VO 2 and HR parameters: HR, HR max , PCI, VO 2 , VO 2max , METs, and EE. Previous studies have evaluated the energy cost of walking based on VO 2 and HR [20], while others have measured HR and PCI to compare energy consumption during KAFO-gait training and gait using an exoskeleton robot-reciprocating gait orthosis (RGO), powered gait orthosis (PGO), Wearable Power-Assist Locomotor (WPAL) [12,21,22]. Their results showed that gait speed and distance were better during walking with the exoskeleton robot than with KAFO braces.…”

“…Previous studies havecompared various exoskeleton gait-assistive robots with KAFO and found that exoskeleton robots show better gait distance, speed, and energy consumption [12,[21][22][23]. However, there have been no studies comparing ReWalk with KAFO.…”

Energy Efficiency of Gait Rehabilitation Robot: A Review

“…The metabolic cost of patients under conditions of robotic assistance is lower than without any assistance but still tremendously high compared with healthy subjects with robotic assistance. Walker-based has potential to achieve greater energy efficiency compared with other robotic aids [46]. The energy efficiency of wheeled locomotion is eight times higher than ordinary crawl gait [47], meaning that MGRRs have more potential.…”