Patient-Driven Cooperative Gait Training with the Rehabilitation Robot Lokomat

Rehabilitation robots can support the training of patients with neurological gait disorders. Classical control approaches permit patients to remain passive during the robot-assisted training. We hypothesize that promoting active participation of patients will improve training efficacy. In this paper, we evaluate the combination of two existing patient-cooperative control strategies. These strategies are applicable to robotic exoskeletons that assist a patient walking on a treadmill. The first strategy, Automatic treadmill speed adaptation, detects the patient’s desired walking speed and accelerates the treadmill accordingly. The second strategy, Path control, provides spatial guidance of the legs via the rehabilitation robot while the patient controls the timing of his/her movements. We demonstrate that both strategies can be successfully combined towards an approach that allows subjects to walk on their own with the support of a robot instead of being passively moved.