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ReGait++

Robotic solutions for lower limb rehabilitation

This project developed new solutions to restore walking in people with Spinal Cord Injury such as a multidirectional bodyweight support system (Rysen), a textile-powered lower-limb exoskeleton (MyoSuit), and an implantable electrode array to activate the human spinal cord with epidural electrical stimulation (EES). The end goal of the project was to define a rehabilitation program enabled by the Rysen, the MyoSuit and EES, and in parallel to develop an all-soft, wireless brain-spine interface that alleviates gait and balance deficits in non-human primate models of spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease and stroke.

Labs involved: G. Courtine (EPFL), S. Lacour (EPFL), S. Micera (EPFL), R. Riener (ETH Zurich)

Rysen

RYSEN is a robotic body-weight support system to assist patients with leg impairments such as spinal cord injury and stroke. It allows patients to operate within a wide area and to be tested in a wide range of activities, such as standing and walking, walking along a slalom or a horizontal ladder light projected onto the floor.

The researchers have developed an algorithm to measure how the patient is walking and update the support given to them as they complete their training.

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Myosuit

The Myosuit is a textile-powered lower-limb exoskeleton which represents a new approach to exoskeleton technology designed to support people with leg weakness. It supports rehabilitation training and activities of daily life such as walking, standing, sitting transfers, or climbing stairs. It is significantly simpler, lighter, and cheaper alternative to what is available on the market today.

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EES

NCCR Robotics developed a computational infrastructure combining real-time monitoring of neural signals associated to walking and control algorithms, with the ultimate goal of restoring walking through epidural electrical spinal cord stimulation (EES).

Grégoire Courtine and Silvestro Micera have collaborated in developing patient-specific stimulation algorithms to automatically tailor the EES parameters on each patient, and in creating wireless electrode implants that can be used to deliver precisely timed stimulation to the patient’s spinal cord.

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Soft robotic components

NCCR Robotics worked to advance the technology of body-worn transducers to assist and monitor the human body both in the context of the hospital and at home. These new components need to have comfort and compliance, wireless communication, distributed and miniaturized transducers with repeatable performance.

In particular, the work of NCCR robotics researchers focused on developing soft pressure sensors and proximity sensors, based on a manufacturing process that uses liquid metal as the core material. These sensors were integrated with the rubber band of the Myosuit, and used to quantify the motion of the user’s joints and to provide an accurate and comfortable way to monitor walking.

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