Soft artificial tactile sensors for the measurement of human-robot interaction in the rehabilitation of the lower limb

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2010:2010:1279-82. doi: 10.1109/IEMBS.2010.5626409.

Abstract

A new and alternative method to measure the interaction force between the user and a lower-limb gait rehabilitation exoskeleton is presented. Instead of using a load cell to measure the resulting interaction force, we propose a distributed measure of the normal interaction pressure over the whole contact area between the user and the machine. To obtain this measurement, a soft silicone tactile sensor is inserted between the limb and commonly used connection cuffs. The advantage of this approach is that it allows for a distributed measure of the interaction pressure, which could be useful for rehabilitation therapy assessment purposes, or for control. Moreover, the proposed solution does not change the comfort of the interaction; can be applied to connection cuffs of different shapes and sizes; and can be manufactured at a low cost. Preliminary results during gait assistance tasks show that this approach can precisely detect changes in the pressure distribution during a gait cycle.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Elastic Modulus
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Gait Disorders, Neurologic / rehabilitation*
  • Humans
  • Leg
  • Man-Machine Systems*
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / instrumentation*
  • Motion Therapy, Continuous Passive / instrumentation*
  • Robotics / instrumentation*
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Therapy, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*
  • Transducers*