Bi-articular Knee-Ankle-Foot Exoskeleton Produces Higher Metabolic Cost Reduction than Weight-Matched Mono-articular Exoskeleton.

ABSTRACT: The bi-articular m. gastrocnemius and the mono-articular m. soleus have different and complementary functions during walking. Several groups are starting to use these biological functions as inspiration to design prostheses with bi-articular actuation components to replace the function of the m. gastrocnemius. Simulation studies indicate that a bi-articular configuration and spring that mimic the m. gastrocnemius could be beneficial for orthoses or exoskeletons. Our aim was to test the effect of a bi-articular and spring configuration that mimics the m. gastrocnemius and compare this to a no-spring and mono-articular configuration. We tested nine participants during walking with knee-ankle-foot exoskeletons with dorsally mounted pneumatic muscle actuators. In the bi-articular plus sprin

SUBMITTER: Malcolm P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5841020 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature