Motion improvement for stairs climbing and descending with gait rehabilitation system

This paper describes the development of a gait rehabilitation system with a locomotion interface (LI) for stair climbing or descending. The LI consists of two 2 DOF manipulators equipped with footpads. These can move the user's feet while his or her body remains stationary. The footpads follow the prerecorded motion of the feet of a healthy individual. For gait training, the user progresses iteratively through successively more advanced modes. In this study, three modes, enforced stair climbing/descending, semi-voluntary stair climbing/descending, and real stair climbing/descending were used. Especially gait trajectories for the stairs climbing/descending were improved to realize valid weight shift motion. Comparisons were made between the modes for healthy individuals and a patient. The effectiveness of the system was examined using EMG and foot pressure data.