Rehab robotics : design and experimental performance assessment of a hip flexion assistive device

Details

Supervisors

Ronsse, Renaud ; Herman, Benoît

Faculty

Ecole polytechnique de Louvain

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur civil électromécanicien, à finalité spécialisée: mécatronique

Abstract

After a stroke, survivors are likely to develop partial paralysis of a function such as walking. Of these, 35% do not fully recover their ability to walk. This affects millions of people worldwide. The number is constantly increasing as the population ages. Active orthoses are developed in the context of rehabilitation to try to recover these functions by relying on brain plasticity. Walking involves three joints of the leg: the hip, the knee and the ankle. Hip orthoses are rarely developed despite this. This work consists of improving a unilateral hip orthosis to assist in flexing the hip of an elderly person who has suffered a stroke. Tests with the previous design revealed issues that required a review of the entire actuation chain.