Development of Gait Assistive Device Using Pneumatic Artificial Muscle
In recent years, in Japan, the elderly population has reached 33.84 million people. The percentage of the total population has reached 26.7 percent, making Japan a super aged society. Lower limb muscle strength of elderly people reduces their walking ability. For this reason, the lowered quality of life (QOL) and activities of daily living (ADL) of elderly people has come to be an important social problem. To resolve this problem, we regard elderly people's ability to walk independently as a necessity. Currently, several assistance devices have been developed to assist walking. This study developed a gait assistive device constructed with pneumatic artificial muscles and a common supporter, which are commercially available with important features. It is compact, lightweight, and low cost, with less discomfort. We measured and evaluated the myoelectric potential at the time of walking when using this device.
2016 Joint 8th International Conference on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems (SCIS) and 17th International Symposium on Advanced Intelligent Systems (ISIS)