Study on the development of rehabilitation protocol with robot suit HAL

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24500659
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Technology
• Principal Investigator: KASAI Rie 東京工科大学, 医療保健学部, 講師 (60458255)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): TAKEDA Sunao 早稲田大学, 理工学術院, 招聘研究員 (40583993) ; MIZUSHIMA Iwanori 東京工科大学, 医療保健学部, 助教 (20590988) ; MUTO Tomokazu 東京工科大学, 医療保健学部, 助教 (50583986) ; KIMURA Yuichi 近畿大学, 生物理工学部, 教授 (60205002) ; NAWAI Kiyoshi つくば国際大学, 保健医療学部, 教授 (50458254)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: ロボットリハビリテーション / HAL / 立ち上がり動作 / 加速度計 / 筋電図 / 脳卒中リハビリテーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) robot suit is a powered exoskeleton that can assist a user's lower limb movement. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of HAL in stroke rehabilitation, focusing on the change of the sit-to-stand (STS) movement and standing pattern. Five stroke patients participated in this study. Single leg HAL was attached to each subject's paretic lower limb. Forward-tilt angle (FTA) was measured with and without HAL use. Surface electromyography (EMG) of STS was recorded to assess the vastus medialis muscle activities of the paretic limb. The average FTA without HAL use was 35° and it improved to 43° with HAL use. The integrated EMGs of HAL use compared to those without HAL, were 83.6% for STS and 66.3% and standing. Therefore, HAL may be effective in improving STS and standing patterns of stroke patients.

Free Research Field

ロボットリハビリテーション