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A Quasi-Passive Knee Exoskeleton to Assist During Descent

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Wearable Robotics: Challenges and Trends

Part of the book series: Biosystems & Biorobotics ((BIOSYSROB,volume 16))

Abstract

A pneumatic exoskeleton intended to decrease the muscle activity of the knee extensors during walking on a negative slope is presented. The device consists of an air spring that can be engaged and disengaged via a solenoid valve. When engaged, the air spring resists knee flexion. A preliminary evaluation of the device was conducted with a single healthy subject. During testing, the EMG activity of the rectus femoris decreased by 15 %, while the EMG activity of the vastus medialis increased by 8 %.

This work was supported by the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Harvard Biodesign Lab, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

    Emily Rogers, Stephen Allen, Fausto A. Panizzolo & Conor J. Walsh

  2. Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

    Panagiotis Polygerinos

  3. School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Dónal P. Holland

Authors
  1. Emily Rogers
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  2. Panagiotis Polygerinos
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  3. Stephen Allen
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  4. Fausto A. Panizzolo
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  5. Conor J. Walsh
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  6. Dónal P. Holland
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dónal P. Holland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Spanish National Research Council, Cajal Institute Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

    José González-Vargas

  2. Spanish National Research Council, Cajal Institute Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

    Jaime Ibáñez

  3. Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering, Houston, Texas, USA

    Jose L. Contreras-Vidal

  4. University of Twente , Enschede, The Netherlands

    Herman van der Kooij

  5. Spanish National Research Council, Cajal Institute Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

    José Luis Pons

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Rogers, E., Polygerinos, P., Allen, S., Panizzolo, F.A., Walsh, C.J., Holland, D.P. (2017). A Quasi-Passive Knee Exoskeleton to Assist During Descent. In: González-Vargas, J., Ibáñez, J., Contreras-Vidal, J., van der Kooij, H., Pons, J. (eds) Wearable Robotics: Challenges and Trends. Biosystems & Biorobotics, vol 16. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46532-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46532-6_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46531-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46532-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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