Intelligent Assistive Device to Monitor Ankle-Foot Orthosis

摘要

Active Ankle foot orthosis is used to compensate for muscle weakness, called Drop Foot caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis or any gait pathologies associated with neuromuscular disorders. People with drop foot need assistance in taking a step since the movement is impaired due to weakening and stiffening of muscles in different portions of the leg. This paper describes a system for actuating a drop foot using electric stimulation for muscles when the disorder is acute. The position of foot is sensed and used as a feedback to controller to make a decision on whether actuation is required. The device also alerts the care taker of the patient through mobile device connected through Bluetooth and generates a progress report. A laboratory model of the proposed system was implemented. The control device can be used in several applications involving control of different types of orthoses used for gait correction.