071 Walkus

Commercially available orthoses are often designed to passively counteract external destabilizing moments during walking or sporting activities. Their effects are often difficult to measure, and limited to a single plane. An active aid would act in synergy with the body’s muscles, adding compensations in the spatial plane and in relation to task events (such as heel lift and toe lift during walking). The proposed research is aimed at proving the concept of an orthosis powered by a new technology developed at UdeS, which employs an electric motor operating at constant speed, coupled to magneto-rheological (MR) fluid clutches. The aim is to define the functional requirements for orthosis application and to specify the efforts and movements required by the orthosis (specifications).

Lead applicant