Development of a wearable gait assist robot using interactive motor rhythmic stimulation to upper and lower limbs

Abstract

Ageing population is a global social problem due to increase in life expectancy and improvement in medical care. In this study, we developed a gait rehabilitation system using interactive motor rhythmic stimulation based on mutual entrainment to help elderly in walking. Mutual entrainment is a natural phenomenon that occur as a result of rhythmic interaction between two or more non-linear oscillators. During this process, the oscillator with a high frequency slows down while the oscillator with a low frequency speeds up, until both oscillators generates the same frequency. In this system, the input rhythm of human footstep timing (phase) is synchronized with the output rhythm of the upper and lower limbs' motor timing (phase) of the system. This system is expected to improve upper and lower limb coordination for elderly's gait.