ArticleJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2020
Walking with a powered ankle-foot orthosis: the effects of actuation timing and stiffness level on healthy users.
Article in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Transformative biomechanics and mechanobiology breakthroughs shaping the future of health and medicine.Innovation (Cambridge (Mass.)) · 2026Review
- A Biomimetic Treadmill-Driven Ankle Exoskeleton: A Study in Able-Bodied Individuals.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Inducing asymmetric gait in healthy walkers: a review.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2025Review
- Lower limb biomechanics of fully trained exoskeleton users reveal complex mechanisms behind the reductions in energy cost with human-in-the-loop optimization.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2024Article
- Immediate Effect Evaluation of a Robotic Ankle-Foot Orthosis with Customized Algorithm for a Foot Drop Patient: A Quantitative and Qualitative Case Report.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Reducing the energy cost of walking with low assistance levels through optimized hip flexion assistance from a soft exosuit.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Application of Wearable Sensors in Actuation and Control of Powered Ankle Exoskeletons: A Comprehensive Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Harnessing Energy of a Treadmill for Push-Off Assistance During Walking:Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundIn the last decades, several powered ankle-foot orthoses have been developed to assist the ankle joint of their users during walking. Recent studies have shown that the effects of the assistance provided by powered ankle-foot orthoses depend on the assistive profile. In compliant actuators, the stiffness level influences the actuator's performance. However, the effects of this parameter on the users has not been yet evaluated. The goal of this study is to assess the effects of the assistance provided by a variable stiffness ankle actuator on healthy young users. More specifically, the effect of different onset times of the push-off torque and different actuator's stiffness levels has been investigated.
methodsEight healthy subjects walked with a unilateral powered ankle-foot orthosis in several assisted walking trials. The powered orthosis was actuated in the sagittal plane by a variable stiffness actuator. During the assisted walking trials, three different onset times of the push-off assistance and three different actuator's stiffness levels were used. The metabolic cost of walking, lower limb muscles activation, joint kinematics, and gait parameters measured during different assisted walking trials were compared to the ones measured during normal walking and walking with the powered orthosis not providing assistance.
resultsThis study found trends for more compliant settings of the ankle actuator resulting in bigger reductions of the metabolic cost of walking and soleus muscle activation in the stance phase during assisted walking as compared to the unassisted walking trial. In addition to this, the study found that, among the tested onset times, the earlier ones showed a trend for bigger reductions of the activation of the soleus muscle during stance, while the later ones led to a bigger reduction in the metabolic cost of walking in the assisted walking trials as compared to the unassisted condition.
conclusionsThis study presents a first attempt to show that, together with the assistive torque profile, also the stiffness level of a compliant ankle actuator can influence the assistive performance of a powered ankle-foot orthosis.
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