Compact Rolling Walker Mechatronic System for Gait Rehabilitation

In a society that is continuously ageing is a priority to design and develop technologies that assist the elder ones in the daily life. This paper presents the design consideration of a novel mechatronic device for efficient gait rehabilitation using commercial off-the-shelf components to ensure a competitive and affordable solution for the rising number of patients that need this type of therapy. The advantages of the current design and the design assumption are stated in the paper with experimental validation to be performed in the future. Three degrees of freedom actuators perform the moves necessary to re-educate the gait, packed in a rolling walker design. The device is built on the concept of an adaptable design that can morph around the patient to serve it’s needs and lead to a highly efficient treatment. The problem of different patient recovery pace and degree of disability was addressed by designing a device highly customizable at both mechanical and electronical level.