Walking on Real-world Terrain with an Ankle Exoskeleton in Cerebral Palsy.

ABSTRACT: Despite medical treatment focused on addressing walking disability, many millions of people with neurological conditions, like cerebral palsy (CP), struggle to maintain independent mobility. Lower limb exoskeletons and exosuits may hold potential for augmenting walking ability. However, it remains unknown whether these wearable robots are safe and beneficial for use outside of highly controlled laboratory environments, the demonstration of which is necessary for clinical translation. Here, we show that a lightweight, portable, ankle exoskeleton with an adaptable one-size-works-for-all assistance controller can improve energy efficiency and walking speed for individuals with CP spanning a wide spectrum of lower limb impairment in a multi-terrain real-world environment. Tested on an outdoor

SUBMITTER: Tagoe EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11309519 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature