The 2-DOF mechanical impedance of the human ankle during poses of the stance phase

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-39
Author(s):  
Guilherme A. Ribeiro ◽  
Lauren N. Knop ◽  
Mo Rastgaar
Keyword(s):  
Stance Phase ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Human 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.

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.

scholarly journals Characterization and clinical implications of ankle impedance during walking in chronic stroke

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Shorter ◽  
James K. Richardson ◽  
Suzanne B. Finucane ◽  
Varun Joshi ◽  
Keith Gordon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ankle Joint ◽  
Stance Phase ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Joint Stiffness ◽  
Mechanical Impedance ◽  
Chronic Stroke ◽  
Joint Mechanics ◽  
Clinical Assessments ◽  
Post Stroke ◽  
Joint Damping

AbstractIndividuals post-stroke experience persisting gait deficits due to altered joint mechanics, known clinically as spasticity, hypertonia, and paresis. In engineering, these concepts are described as stiffness and damping, or collectively as joint mechanical impedance, when considered with limb inertia. Typical clinical assessments of these properties are obtained while the patient is at rest using qualitative measures, and the link between the assessments and functional outcomes and mobility is unclear. In this study we quantify ankle mechanical impedance dynamically during walking in individuals post-stroke and in age-speed matched control subjects, and examine the relationships between mechanical impedance and clinical measures of mobility and impairment. Perturbations were applied to the ankle joint during the stance phase of walking, and least-squares system identification techniques were used to estimate mechanical impedance. Stiffness of the paretic ankle was decreased during mid-stance when compared to the non-paretic side; a change independent of muscle activity. Inter-limb differences in ankle joint damping, but not joint stiffness or passive clinical assessments, strongly predicted walking speed and distance. This work provides the first insights into how stroke alters joint mechanical impedance during walking, as well as how these changes relate to existing outcome measures. Our results inform clinical care, suggesting a focus on correcting stance phase mechanics could potentially improve mobility of chronic stroke survivors.

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.

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 Development of a Mechatronic Platform and Validation of Methods for Estimating Ankle Stiffness During the Stance Phase of Walking

2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elliott J. Rouse ◽  
Levi J. Hargrove ◽  
Eric J. Perreault ◽  
Michael A. Peshkin ◽  
Todd A. Kuiken
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Stance Phase ◽  
Testing Machine ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Joint Torque ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Prosthetic Foot ◽  
Ankle Impedance ◽  
Ankle Stiffness ◽  
Human Ankle

The mechanical properties of human joints (i.e., impedance) are constantly modulated to precisely govern human interaction with the environment. The estimation of these properties requires the displacement of the joint from its intended motion and a subsequent analysis to determine the relationship between the imposed perturbation and the resultant joint torque. There has been much investigation into the estimation of upper-extremity joint impedance during dynamic activities, yet the estimation of ankle impedance during walking has remained a challenge. This estimation is important for understanding how the mechanical properties of the human ankle are modulated during locomotion, and how those properties can be replicated in artificial prostheses designed to restore natural movement control. Here, we introduce a mechatronic platform designed to address the challenge of estimating the stiffness component of ankle impedance during walking, where stiffness denotes the static component of impedance. The system consists of a single degree of freedom mechatronic platform that is capable of perturbing the ankle during the stance phase of walking and measuring the response torque. Additionally, we estimate the platform's intrinsic inertial impedance using parallel linear filters and present a set of methods for estimating the impedance of the ankle from walking data. The methods were validated by comparing the experimentally determined estimates for the stiffness of a prosthetic foot to those measured from an independent testing machine. The parallel filters accurately estimated the mechatronic platform's inertial impedance, accounting for 96% of the variance, when averaged across channels and trials. Furthermore, our measurement system was found to yield reliable estimates of stiffness, which had an average error of only 5.4% (standard deviation: 0.7%) when measured at three time points within the stance phase of locomotion, and compared to the independently determined stiffness values of the prosthetic foot. The mechatronic system and methods proposed in this study are capable of accurately estimating ankle stiffness during the foot-flat region of stance phase. Future work will focus on the implementation of this validated system in estimating human ankle impedance during the stance phase of walking.

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.

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