| Project/Area Number |
21K17791
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
|
| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
|---|
| Review Section |
Basic Section 61020:Human interface and interaction-related
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Saga University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
|
| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2023)
|
| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,420,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,020,000)
Fiscal Year 2023: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000)
Fiscal Year 2022: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000)
|
|---|
| Keywords | ergonomics / gait analysis / motion analysis / electromyography |
|---|
| Outline of Research at the Start |
Although physically assistive devices such as lower-limb exoskeletons are able to provide the forces required to walk, the user does not necessarily reduce their muscular activity to benefit from the assistive force provided and may adjust their gait in ways that are counterproductive.
This research aims to shed light on the biomechanical and physiological factors that can cause a user to work against its exoskeleton when walking, such as the need to maintain balance while walking, the correlated activation of muscles (muscle synergies), and the perturbation caused by an external force.
|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
A custom cable-driven ankle exoskeleton was developed to understand how users change their gait kinematics and muscle activations. The decrease in gastrocnemius muscle activity indicates that the exoskeleton is able to partially unload the plantar flexor of the participants but larger variations in the period of the stance phase when assistance was provided suggest that the assistance perturbs the participants gait and they would need to adjust their gait to maintain balance. This may provide insights into the causes of individual differences and how to instruct users to adapt to the assistance from an ankle exoskeleton better and more quickly.
|
| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
足関節の屈曲は、歩行時の重心の前方への推進に大きく寄与しており、足関節の屈曲をアシストする足関節外骨格は、歩行の代謝コストを低減することが示されている。しかし、トレーニング期間終了後にしか起こらないことが多く、筋の活性化がどのように適応されるかには大きな個人差がある。本研究は、足関節外骨格による底屈アシストがユーザーの歩行を乱すことを示唆している。ただし、練習を重ねることで、足関節屈曲アシストによる摂動を予測し、歩行を適応させることができるようになるユーザーもいる。ユーザーが外力に対してどのように適応するのかについて理解が深まるにつれ、より効果的な歩行補助装置が期待できる。
|
