Contributor(s)

Mavroidis, Dinos, Guidi, Mark, Lo, Raymond, Othman, Andy, Paquette, Jeff, Proulx, Stephen

Abstract

This report details the development of a Version II S.A. Trainer. The S.A. Trainer is a rehabilitation device designed in conjunction with the Motion Analysis Lab of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. The device is designed to help patients with abnormal gait patterns regain natural pelvic obliquity with the use of newly developed corrective system. Force-field correction induces a patient to use their own muscular structure to correct abnormal gait. This will decrease rehabilitation time and improve brain to muscle communication. Patent and literature searches concerning existing rehabilitation devices have shown that no current device utilizes force fields around the pelvis to improve gait patterns. In the S.A. Trainer, lateral corrective forces will be applied to control the obliquity of a patient while allowing free motion for the natural translation and rotations of the pelvis. The envisioned end result is the delivery of a fully-functional prototype designed for human testing with a minimum safety factor of 2.5. The focus of this project will be on the creation of a truly rigid mechanical structure (for purposes of motion analysis) and the implementation of a closed-loop control algorithm. The control system will gather real-time data on a gait of a patient gait, compare it to the gait profile derived from a healthy subject, and facilitate the necessary forces to normalize the two patterns.

Notes

Capstone Design Course, MIE 701-702, Technical Design Report, Project #F05/F06, Mid-Term report

Keywords

rehabilitation device, pelvic obliquity

Publisher

Northeastern University

Publication Date

11-5-2007

Rights Holder

Northeastern University, Department of Mechanical, Industrial and Electrical Engineering

Permanent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/2047/d1001181x


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