PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY

Emily Brown; Yusra Farhat Ullah; Kimberly Gustafson; William Durfee

doi:10.1115/DMD2022-1013

PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY

Emily Brown, Yusra Farhat Ullah, Kimberly Gustafson, William Durfee

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

The exercise methods available to individuals with spinal cord injuries are limited, increasing their risk of pressure sores, muscle atrophy, diminished bone strength, and diminished blood flow efficiency. The FES Energy Storing Exoskeleton combines the simplicity of a passive exoskeleton with functional electrical stimulation of the quadriceps muscles, enabling the user to stand and walk using their own muscles. To reduce muscle fatigue, the initial energy supplied by FES is supplemented by gas springs for energy storage and bidirectional clutch mechanisms for joint locking and control. Gas springs have superior energy storage qualities over pneumatic cylinders and elastomer bands due to their high energy-to-weight ratio and constant force properties. A qualitative analysis of joint locking mechanisms has suggested that a bidirectional clutch mechanism has the potential to overcome the sagging exhibited by the wrap springs used in previous versions of the exoskeleton. While the design of the novel clutch mechanism is the subject of a future work, the functionality and benefits of the mechanism are described in the context of the overall performance of the exoskeleton. The revised design is predicted to weigh 10.2 kg, which is 6.8 kg lighter than the previous exoskeleton design, and is significantly lighter than most commercial motorized walking exoskeletons. A detailed CAD model of the improved system has been developed and future work includes creating and validating a physical prototype.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022
Publisher	American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ISBN (Electronic)	9780791885710
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2022-1013
State	Published - 2022
Externally published	Yes
Event	2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022 - Minneapolis, Virtual, United States Duration: Apr 11 2022 → Apr 14 2022

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022

Conference

Conference	2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022
Country/Territory	United States
City	Minneapolis, Virtual
Period	4/11/22 → 4/14/22

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This project is funded by a seed grant from the University of Minnesota Robotics Institute. An earlier version of the exoskeleton was funded by the Minnesota Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Grant Program. The authors thank Mojun (Toby) Pan for additional contributions to this project.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by ASME

Keywords

Functional Electrical Stimulation
Hybrid Exoskeleton
Muscle Powered Walking
Spinal Cord Injury

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10.1115/DMD2022-1013

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Full text

Cite this

Brown, E., Ullah, Y. F., Gustafson, K., & Durfee, W. (2022). PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY. In Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022 Article V001T09A001 (Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022). American Society of Mechanical Engineers. https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2022-1013

PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY. / Brown, Emily; Ullah, Yusra Farhat; Gustafson, Kimberly et al.
Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022. V001T09A001 (Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Brown, E, Ullah, YF, Gustafson, K & Durfee, W 2022, PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY. in Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022., V001T09A001, Proceedings of the 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 2022 Design of Medical Devices Conference, DMD 2022, Minneapolis, Virtual, United States, 4/11/22. https://doi.org/10.1115/DMD2022-1013

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PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF A MUSCLE-POWERED EXOSKELETON FOR USERS WITH SPINAL CORD INJURY

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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