Effects of Timed Frontal Plane Pelvic Moments During Overground Walking With a Mobile TPAD System

Abstract

Robotic gait training may improve overground ambulation for individuals with poor control over pelvic motion. However, there is a need for an overground gait training robotic device that allows full control of pelvic movement and synchronizes applied forces to the user's gait. This work evaluates an overground robotic gait trainer that applies synchronized forces on the user's pelvis, the mobile Tethered Pelvic Assist Device. To illustrate one possible control scheme, we apply an assistive frontal plane pelvic moments synchronized with the user's continuous gait in real-time. Ten healthy adults walked with the robotic device, with and without frontal plane moments. The frontal plane moments corresponded to 10% of the user's body weight with a moment arm of half their pelvic width. The frontal plane moments significantly increased the range of frontal plane pelvic angles from 2.6°to 9.9°and the sagittal and transverse planes from 4.6°to 10.1°and 3.0°to 8.3°, respectively. The frontal plane moments also significantly increased the activation of the left gluteus medius muscle, which assists in regulating pelvic obliquity. The right gluteus medius muscle activation did not significantly differ when frontal plane moments were applied. This work highlights the ability of the mobile Tethered Pelvic Assist Device to apply a continuous pelvic moment that is synchronized with the user's gait cycle. This capability could change how overground robotic gait training strategies are designed and applied. The potential for gait training interventions that target gait deficits or muscle weakness can now be explored with the mobile Tethered Pelvic Assist Device.

Design, control and evaluation of a treadmill-based Pelvic Exoskeleton (PeXo) with self-paced walking mode

“…Pelvic rotations also help achieving sufficient step length and pelvic tilt assist required to facilitate leg swing progression. Strengthening the hip musculature and improving pelvis-trunk-lower limb coordination could, therefore, benefit many individuals with gait disorders to recover a functional and healthy gait pattern [4].…”

Overground Robotic Gait Trainer mTPAD Improves Gait Symmetry and Weight Bearing in Stroke Survivors

“…The mTPAD applies pelvic external forces synchronized to the user’s gait in this work [ 45 ], specifically during hemiparetic stance. Using these pelvic forces while the stroke survivor is in their hemiparetic stance, we can study the effects of these forces on the affected side.…”