Design of Lower Limb Exoskeleton for Stroke Patients Gait Rehabilitation

Abstract

The possible gap as the number of stroke patients outgrows the number of therapists encourages the development of the exoskeleton as a multiplier for the therapists. The objective of this study is to design a lower limb exoskeleton for stroke patients’ gait therapy. The design method was started with assessing previous studies, to search for design references and issues of the technology. The previous studies provide information on the brief history of the exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation as well as the various structural, mechanical, and control designs of exoskeletons. Based on the references, we design a simple lower limb exoskeleton and formulate the prototyping and testing plan, from CAD modeling, followed by 3D printing of the model, mockup testing, until prototyping and the clinical test of the prototype. This article describes the preliminary stage of exoskeleton design especially the design process and the results in the form of exoskeleton conceptual design and scale model 1:2. The scale model improves the efficacy of the design study.