Wearable Robotic Exoskeletons for Overground Walking in Rehabilitation: Specific Contexts of Use and Improvement Opportu
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REHABILITATION AND ASSISTIVE ROBOTICS (M RAISON AND S ACHICHE, SECTION EDITORS)
Wearable Robotic Exoskeletons for Overground Walking in Rehabilitation: Specific Contexts of Use and Improvement Opportunities Dany H. Gagnon 1,2
&
Rachid Aissaoui 3,4
Accepted: 21 September 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review Within the clinical rehabilitation settings, wearable robotic exoskeletons (WREs) can be used as a dynamic walking orthosis, for a neurorehabilitation intervention, as well as a for physical activity adaptation. The purpose of this commentary is to describe and comment on these issues. Recent Findings There are important links between the use of WRE for clinical setting intervention and the technical aspect, which are related to define a specific walking speed and designing a dynamic stable user-WRE couple. There is still difficulty to allow the user to choose the walking speed so that the WRE adapts to it. Moreover, the stability of walking with the WRE without using a walker or crutches is still challenging problem. Summary The enhancement of these two technical aspects (i.e., walking speed and dynamic stability) will help in the future to design exoskeleton with increased functionalities such as walking along a curved path and making turns, walking over uneven or rough terrains (e.g., slopes), and ascending and descending stairs. Keywords Dynamic stability . Sensorimotor impairments . Walking speed . Wearable exoskeleton
Introduction This article is part of the Topical Collection on Rehabilitation and Assistive Robotics * Rachid Aissaoui [email protected] Dany H. Gagnon [email protected] 1
School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
2
Pathokinesiology Laboratory, Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal, Institut universitaire sur la réadaptation en déficience physique de Montréal, CIUSSS Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
3
Laboratoire de recherche en imagerie et orthopédie, Centre de Recherche du Centre de Hospitalier Universitaire de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
4
Département de génie des systèmes, École de technologie supérieure, Montreal, QC, Canada
Over the past decade, numerous engineering research teams and companies have developed and optimized wearable robotic exoskeletons (WREs) for overground walking [1•, 2–4]. WREs for overground walking can be defined as an active mechatronic system that is essentially anthropomorphic in nature (i.e., designed according to body segment attributes and joints). It is worn by individuals who are affected by sensorimotor impairments and experience walking and walkingrelated disabilities (Fig. 1). Recently, WREs have been transitioning from laboratory research to clinical rehabilitation settings, although different challenges and several improvement opportunities remain. Additional attention to the specific context of WRE use is also becoming crucial, as this context impacts both the challenges and opportunities for future
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