Modular Exoskeleton for Cerebral Palsy Gait Training
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Patients with cerebral palsy face challenges in standing and walking due to muscle tone and motor skill impairments, leading to risk of motor function loss and muscle atrophy, requiring innovative methods and apparatus to aid in balance, posture, and muscle engagement.
Innovation Solution
A modular exoskeleton system providing progressive support from the lower back to the feet, comprising a rigid back, external leg and foot supports, and body fasteners, configured to maintain a normal walking pattern, engage leg adductor muscles, and allow for adjustable degrees of motion, including hip flexion, knee bending, and ankle movement, with optional motorized or non-motorized assistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a patient with cerebral palsy attempts to stand and walk independently, then motor function and muscle strength may be maintained, but the patient experiences exaggerated muscle contraction, unyielding limbs, and involuntary movements that prevent normal walking
Solution Approach 1:
The exoskeleton acts as an intermediary device between the patient's impaired motor control and the desired walking motion. It provides mechanical guidance and support to the limbs, enabling normal gait patterns despite the patient's inability to voluntarily control muscle contraction and relaxation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the physical parameters of limb movement by providing external mechanical support and guidance. The exoskeleton structures modify the stiffness and range of motion parameters of the patient's limbs, transforming unyielding limbs into controllable, moving segments that can follow normal walking patterns.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the exoskeleton provides full support to stabilize the patient, then balance and posture are maintained, but the patient's muscles may become dependent and fail to engage properly
Solution Approach 1:
The exoskeleton transitions from a static, fully supportive structure to a dynamic system that progressively reduces support as the patient's abilities improve. The device adapts its level of assistance, allowing muscle engagement to increase over time while maintaining balance and posture during the learning process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary stabilization actions to establish proper balance and posture before requiring the patient's muscles to engage independently. By initially providing full support to maintain correct alignment, the system creates a stable foundation from which muscle engagement can gradually develop.
3Manufacturing precision
If the exoskeleton uses rigid structures to prevent deviation from normal walking pattern, then gait correction is achieved, but the system becomes complex and difficult to adjust
Solution Approach 1:
The exoskeleton is divided into separate modular components that can be independently adjusted and configured. This segmentation allows each segment to be optimized for specific gait correction functions while simplifying overall system adjustment and adaptation to individual patient needs.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method to assist a user to overcome an interruption of service between the brain and the legs including several subsystems configured to be progressively removed to provide decreasing levels of lower trunk and leg support.