One of the challenges that any powered lower limb orthotic or prosthetic device must address for activities in the real world is its ability to recognize gait modes (level ground walking, stairs, ramps, etc.) and adapt to mode changes promptly. There are two critical aspects of this problem. First, the gait mode has to be recognized at the earliest possible time to prevent potential misfiring (...

BACKGROUND Range of motion deficits of the lower extremity occur in about the half of the children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Over time, these impairments can cause joint deformities and deviations in the children's gait pattern, leading to limitations in moblity. Preventing a loss of range of motion is important in order to reduce secondary activity limitations and joint deformities. Su...

The field of exoskeletons and assistive orthotic devices is a multidisciplinary issue in the halfway between medicine and robotics. Within the robotic discipline, bipedal robot gaits are generated as a function of parameters such as stride length, foot clearance and body height. These features allow to adapt the gait to different surface characteristics. However, biped robot gaits do not look a...

BACKGROUND Children with Down syndrome (DS), who are likely to suffer from a large number of musculoskeletal problems, tend to have a unique pattern of walking in clinical settings. Despite such apparent uniqueness, few studies have empirically investigated gait development pattern in DS children, especially at an earlier age. We therefore conducted gait analysis in young DS children who are pr...

Robot-assisted physical gait therapy is gaining recognition among the rehabilitation engineering community. Several robotic orthoses for the treatment of gait impairments have been developed during the last 2 decades, many of which are designed to provide physical therapy to a single joint of the lower limb; these are reviewed here. The mechanism design and actuation concepts for these single j...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between lower limb muscular deficiencies and postural and gait capacities. DESIGN Observational study. SUBJECTS A total of 26 patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and 19 health-matched healthy subjects. METHODS Barefoot gait and postural control were analysed using a walking mat and a force platform, respectively. Muscu...

BACKGROUND Many stroke survivors suffer from paresis of lower limb muscles, resulting in compensatory gait patterns characterised by asymmetries in spatial and temporal parameters and reduced walking capacity. Functional electrical stimulation has been used to improve walking capacity, but evidence is mostly limited to the orthotic effects of peroneal functional electrical stimulation in the ch...