Effect of vibrotactile feedback for balance rehabilitation with the Ekso Bionics® exoskeleton

Degraded proprioceptive system due to injury or disease affects standing balance and locomotor ability. This work presents a method combining a robotic exoskeleton and sensory augmentation device (“V-Belt”) capable of compensating for the impaired sensory systems for people with neuromuscular disorders. The “V-Belt” provides real-time vibrotactile feedback to help restore balance information for exoskeleton users. Both able-bodied and non-able-bodied subjects with spinal cord injuries have been recruited to evaluate the effectiveness of additional haptic feedback in balance retraining. Results show that subjects found this vibrotactile cue easily interpretable, useful in adjusting their posture and beneficial for self-rehabilitation.