Exotendons for assistance of human locomotion.docVIP

BioMedical Engineering OnLine BioMedCentral Research Open Access Exotendons for assistance of human locomotion Antonie J van den Bogert*1,2 Address: 1Department of Biomedical Engineering The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland OH, USA and 2Orthopaedic Research Center The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland OH, USA Email: Antonie J van den Bogert* - bogert@ * Corresponding author Published: 14 October 2003 Received: 24 April 2003 Accepted: 14 October 2003 BioMedical Engineering OnLine 2003, 2:17 This article is available from: /content/2/1/17 ? 2003 van den Bogert; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the articles original URL. Abstract Background: Powered robotic exoskeletons for assistance of human locomotion are currently under development for military and medical applications. The energy requirements for such devices are excessive, and this has become a major obstacle for practical applications. Legged locomotion in many animals, however, is very energy efficient. We propose that poly-articular elastic mechanisms are a major contributor to the economy of locomotion in such specialized animals. Consequently, it should be possible to design unpowered assistive devices that make effective use of similar mechanisms. Methods: A passive assistive technology is presented, based on long elastic cords attached to an exoskeleton and guided by pulleys placed at the joints. A general optimization procedure is described for finding the best geometrical arrangement of such exotendons for assisting a specific movement. Optimality is defined either as minimal residual joint moment or as minimal residual joint power. Four specific exotendon systems with increasing complexity are considered. Representative human gait data were u