Instrumented Walkway for Estimation of the Ankle Impedance in Dorsiflexion-Plantarflexion and Inversion-Eversion During Standing and Walking

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evandro M. Ficanha ◽  
Guilherme Ribeiro ◽  
Mohammad Rastgaar Aagaah
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Force Plate ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Standing Position ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
System A ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Applied Forces ◽  
And Inversion

This paper describes in detail the fabrication of an instrumented walkway for estimation of the ankle mechanical impedance in both dorsiflexion-plantarflexion (DP) and in inversion-eversion (IE) directions during walking in arbitrary directions and standing. The platform consists of two linear actuators, each capable of generating ±351.3 N peak force that are mechanically coupled to a force plate using Bowden cables. The applied forces cause the force plate to rotate in two degrees of freedom (DOF) and transfer torques to the human ankle to generate DP and IE rotations. The relative rotational motion of the foot with respect to the shin is recorded using a motion capture camera system while the forces applied to the foot are measured with the force plate, from which the torques applied to the ankle are calculated. The analytical methods required for the estimation of the ankle torques, rotations, and impedances are presented. To validate the system, a mockup with known stiffness was used, and it was shown that the developed system was capable of properly estimating the stiffness of the mockup in two DOF with less than 5% error. Also, a preliminary experiment with a human subject in standing position was performed, and the estimated quasi-static impedance of the ankle was estimated at 319 Nm/rad in DP and 119 Nm/rad in IE.

scholarly journals Estimation of the Two Degrees-of-Freedom Time-Varying Impedance of the Human Ankle

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evandro Ficanha ◽  
Guilherme Ribeiro ◽  
Lauren Knop ◽  
Mo Rastgaar
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Heel Strike ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Two Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Impedance Modulation ◽  
Ankle Stiffness ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Stiffness And Damping ◽  
And Inversion

An understanding of the time-varying mechanical impedance of the ankle during walking is fundamental in the design of active ankle-foot prostheses and lower extremity rehabilitation devices. This paper describes the estimation of the time-varying mechanical impedance of the human ankle in both dorsiflexion–plantarflexion (DP) and inversion–eversion (IE) during walking in a straight line. The impedance was estimated using a two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) vibrating platform and instrumented walkway. The perturbations were applied at eight different axes of rotation combining different amounts of DP and IE rotations of four male subjects. The observed stiffness and damping were low at heel strike, increased during the mid-stance, and decreases at push-off. At heel strike, it was observed that both the damping and stiffness were larger in IE than in DP. The maximum average ankle stiffness was 5.43 N·m/rad/kg at 31% of the stance length (SL) when combining plantarflexion and inversion and the minimum average was 1.14 N·m/rad/kg at 7% of the SL when combining dorsiflexion and eversion. The maximum average ankle damping was 0.080 Nms/rad/kg at 38% of the SL when combining plantarflexion and inversion, and the minimum average was 0.016 Nms/rad/kg at 7% of the SL when combining plantarflexion and eversion. From 23% to 93% of the SL, the largest ankle stiffness and damping occurred during the combination of plantarflexion and inversion or dorsiflexion and eversion. These rotations are the resulting motion of the ankle's subtalar joint, suggesting that the role of this joint and the muscles involved in the ankle rotation are significant in the impedance modulation in both DP and IE during gait.

Stochastic Estimation of Human Ankle Mechanical Impedance in Lateral/Medial Rotation

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evandro M. Ficanha ◽  
Mohammad Rastgaar
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Linear Time ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Linear Time Invariant ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Medial Rotation ◽  
The Difference

This article compares stochastic estimates of human ankle mechanical impedance when ankle muscles were fully relaxed and co-contracting antagonistically. We employed Anklebot, a rehabilitation robot for the ankle to provide torque perturbations. Surface electromyography (EMG) was used to monitor muscle activation levels and these EMG signals were displayed to subjects who attempted to maintain them constant. Time histories of ankle torques and angles in the lateral/medial (LM) directions were recorded. The results also compared with the ankle impedance in inversion-eversion (IE) and dorsiflexion-plantarflexion (DP). Linear time-invariant transfer functions between the measured torques and angles were estimated for the Anklebot alone and when a human subject wore it; the difference between these functions provided an estimate of ankle mechanical impedance. High coherence was observed over a frequency range up to 30 Hz. The main effect of muscle activation was to increase the magnitude of ankle mechanical impedance in all degrees of freedom of ankle.

scholarly journals Interpretation of the Directional Properties of Voluntarily Modulated Human Ankle Mechanical Impedance

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ho ◽  
Hyunglae Lee ◽  
Mohammad A. Rastgaar ◽  
Hermano Igo Krebs ◽  
Neville Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
In Vivo Studies ◽  
General Representation ◽  
Quantitative Characterization ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Electromyographic Recording

This article presents the results of two in-vivo studies providing measurements of human static ankle mechanical impedance. Accurate measurements of ankle impedance when muscles were voluntarily activated were obtained using a therapeutic robot, Anklebot, and an electromyographic recording system. Important features of ankle impedance, and their variation with muscle activity, are discussed, including magnitude, symmetry and directions of minimum and maximum impedance. Voluntary muscle activation has a significant impact on ankle impedance, increasing it by up to a factor of three in our experiments. Furthermore, significant asymmetries and deviations from a linear two-spring model are present in many subjects, indicating that ankle impedance has a complex and individually idiosyncratic structure. We propose the use of Fourier series as a general representation, providing both insight and a precise quantitative characterization of human static ankle impedance.

Estimation of the 2-DOF Time-Varying Impedance of the Human Ankle

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evandro Ficanha ◽  
Guilherme Aramizo Ribeiro ◽  
Lauren Knop ◽  
Mohammad Rastgaar Aagaah
Keyword(s):  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Stance Phase ◽  
Impedance Control ◽  
The Body ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Impedance Modulation ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Vibrating Platform

The human ankle plays a major role in locomotion as it the first major joint to transfer the ground reaction torques to the rest of the body while providing power for locomotion and stability. One of the main causes of the ankle impedance modulation is muscle activation [1, 2], which can tune the ankle’s stiffness and damping during the stance phase of gait. The ankle’s time-varying impedance is also task dependent, meaning that different activities such as walking at different speeds, turning, and climbing/descending stairs would impose different profiles of time-varying impedance modulation. The impedance control is commonly used in the control of powered ankle-foot prostheses; however, the information on time-varying impedance of the ankle during the stance phase is limited in the literature. The only previous study during the stance phase, to the best of the authors knowledge, reported the human ankle impedance at four points of the stance phase in dorsiflexion-plantarflexion (DP) [1] during walking. To expand previous work and estimate the impedance in inversion-eversion (IE), a vibrating platform was fabricated (Fig. 1) [3]. The platform allows the ankle impedance to be estimated at 250 Hz in both DP and IE, including combined rotations in both degrees of freedom (DOF) simultaneously. The results can be used in a 2-DOF powered ankle-foot prosthesis developed by the authors, which is capable of mimicking the ankle kinetics and kinematics in the frontal and sagittal planes [4]. The vibrating platform can also be used to tune the prosthesis to assure it properly mimics the human ankle dynamics. This paper describes the results of the preliminary experiments using the vibrating platform on 4 male subjects. For the first time, the time-varying impedance of the human ankle in both DP and IE during walking in a straight line are reported.

scholarly journals Quantitative Characterization of Steady-State Ankle Impedance With Muscle Activation

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunglae Lee ◽  
Patrick Ho ◽  
Mohammad A. Rastgaar ◽  
Hermano Igo Krebs ◽  
Neville Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Vector Field ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Human Subjects ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Field Analysis ◽  
Lower Extremity Function ◽  
Ankle Impedance

Characterization of multi-variable ankle mechanical impedance is crucial to understanding how the ankle supports lower-extremity function during interaction with the environment. This paper reports quantification of steady-state ankle impedance when muscles were active. Vector field approximation of repetitive measurements of the torque-angle relation in two degrees of freedom (inversion/eversion and dorsiflexion/plantarflexion) enabled assessment of spring-like and non-spring-like components. Experimental results of eight human subjects showed direction-dependent ankle impedance with greater magnitude than when muscles were relaxed. In addition, vector field analysis demonstrated a non-spring-like behavior when muscles were active, although this phenomenon was subtle in the unimpaired young subjects we studied.

scholarly journals Impedance of the Human Ankle During Standing for Posture Control

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Ribeiro ◽  
E. Ficanha ◽  
L. Knop ◽  
M. Rastgaar
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Posture Control ◽  
Resultant Force ◽  
Order System ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Impedance Modulation ◽  
Human Ankle ◽  
Stiffness And Damping ◽  
Antagonistic Muscles

The stiffness and damping of anatomical joints can be modulated by muscle co-contraction, where antagonistic muscles contract simultaneously, increasing both the joint’s stiffness and damping. In a second order system, the mechanical impedance, or simply impedance, is a function of the system’s inertia, damping, and stiffness. The ankle impedance can be defined as the resultant force due to an external motion perturbation. The impedance modulation of the human ankle is required for stable walking. The estimation of the time-varying impedance modulation of the human ankle is the focus of research by different groups [1,2].

scholarly journals Quantifying Age-Related Differences of Ankle Mechanical Properties Using a Robotic Device

Robotics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martelli ◽  
Taborri ◽  
Del Prete ◽  
Palermo ◽  
Rossi
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Output System ◽  
Kinematic Performance ◽  
Robotic Devices ◽  
And Inversion

A deep analysis of ankle mechanical properties is a fundamental step in the design of an exoskeleton, especially if it is to be suitable for both adults and children. This study aims at assessing age-related differences of ankle properties using pediAnklebot. To achieve this aim, we enrolled 16 young adults and 10 children in an experimental protocol that consisted of the evaluation of ankle mechanical impedance and kinematic performance. Ankle impedance was measured by imposing stochastic torque perturbations in dorsi-plantarflexion and inversion-eversion directions. Kinematic performance was assessed by asking participants to perform a goaldirected task. Magnitude and anisotropy of impedance were computed using a multipleinput multiple-output system. Kinematic performance was quantified by computing indices of accuracy, smoothness, and timing. Adults showed greater magnitude of ankle impedance in both directions and for all frequencies, while the anisotropy was higher in children. By analyzing kinematics, children performed movements with lower accuracy and higher smoothness, while no differences were found for the duration of the movement. In addition, adults showed a greater ability to stop the movement when hitting the target. These findings can be useful to a proper development of robotic devices, as well as for implementation of specific training programs.

scholarly journals Modeling Dynamic Ankle Mechanical Impedance in Relaxed Muscle

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunglae Lee ◽  
Neville Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Estimation Method ◽  
Frontal Plane ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Standing Position ◽  
Order Model ◽  
Hill Model ◽  
Complex Zero ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Limb Posture ◽  
Better Than

This paper presents identification and modeling of dynamic ankle mechanical impedance in relaxed muscles. A multi-variable estimation method using a wearable therapeutic robot enabled clear interpretation of dynamic ankle impedance both in the sagittal and frontal planes. Estimation results showed that dynamic ankle behavior apparently cannot be reconciled with a simple 2nd order model. Measurements in a seated and standing position verified that ankle impedance changes substantially depending on lower-limb posture. Identification results were fitted with a modified Hill model with a mass between the muscle and tendon elements. When coupled with foot inertia, either singly or antagonistically, this model successfully captured the dynamic behavior of the ankle impedance both in the seated and standing positions up to 20 Hz. At least a 4th order model having 2 complex zero and 1 complex pole pairs was required to describe relaxed ankle impedance either in the sagittal or frontal plane up to 20Hz. In the seated position, a 6th order model was slightly better than the 4th order model but with the expense of complexity, and a 8th order model might be used to describe dynamic ankle behavior up to 30∼40Hz.

Validation of an Instrumented Walkway Designed for Estimation of the Ankle Impedance in Sagittal and Frontal Planes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evandro M. Ficanha ◽  
Guilherme Ribeiro ◽  
Mohammad Rastgaar Aagaah
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Actuation System ◽  
Ankle Kinematics ◽  
Preliminary Validation ◽  
Time Varying Systems ◽  
Similar Accuracy ◽  
Time Invariant

Recently, the authors designed and fabricated an Instrumented Walkway for the estimation of the ankle mechanical impedance in the sagittal and frontal planes during walking in arbitrary directions [1]. It consists of a powered platform; therefore, the users do not need to wear or carry any measurement device or actuation system other than reflective markers used to record the ankle kinematics with a motion capture camera system. This paper describes the continuous development of the Instrumented Walkway and presents an experimental preliminary validation of its capability to estimate the impedance of a system with time-varying dynamics. To validate the system, a mockup with mechanical characteristics similar to a human lower-leg and controllable time-varying stiffness was used. The stiffness of the mockup was estimated with fixed and time-varying stiffness. With fixed stiffness, a stochastic system identification method was used to estimate the mockup’s impedance. When the mockup presented a time-varying stiffness, a second order parametric model was used. The RMS error between the two methods was 2.81 Nm/rad (maximum 4.12 Nm/rad and minimum of −3.41 Nm/rad). The results show that the proposed approach can estimate the stiffness of systems with time-varying dynamics or static dynamics with similar accuracy. Since the setup was already validated for systems with time-invariant dynamics, it concluded the system’s applicability for time-varying systems such as the human ankle-foot during the stance phase.

Directional Variation of Active and Passive Ankle Static Impedance

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Ho ◽  
Hyunglae Lee ◽  
Hermano Igo Krebs ◽  
Neville Hogan
Keyword(s):  
Muscle Contraction ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Active Muscle ◽  
Two Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Static Component ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Directional Variation

Though ankle mechanical impedance plays an important role in posture and locomotion, it has been inadequately characterized. Unlike previous studies, which confined themselves to measurements along the primary axes of the ankle in an isolated fashion, the study reported here characterized the static component of ankle impedance in two degrees of freedom. In addition, the effect of active muscle contraction on ankle static impedance was measured. We found that ankle static impedance varied significantly with direction under passive conditions. We further observed that, while muscle contraction increased the magnitude of ankle static impedance, its directional variation was essentially unchanged.

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