Synthesis of a mechanism for human gait rehabilitation: An introductory approach

Abstract

The traditional concept of physical rehabilitation focused on maximizing the remaining body functions in a way that patients used them in a compensatory fashion. Recently, it has been observed that the repetition of task oriented motions proved to improve muscular strength and movement coordination in patients with neurologic or orthopedic impairments. Traditional physiotherapy is laborious and expensive, and may present undesired variability in the movement cycles between sessions. The use of robotic and mechanical devices allows for greater repeatability in movements. It also decreases the number of required therapists as the degree of exhaustion allowing to increase the sessions time and number. This paper intends to present the methodology to build a gait rehabilitation device of low cost, complexity and high adaptability, based on a four bar linkage.