CN115089445A

CN115089445A - Lower limb exoskeleton device with electrodes

Info

Publication number: CN115089445A
Application number: CN202210594825.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 齐鹏; 闫至凡
Original assignee: Tongji University
Current assignee: Tongji University
Priority date: 2022-05-27
Filing date: 2022-05-27
Publication date: 2022-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 2042-05-27
Also published as: CN115089445B

Abstract

The invention relates to a lower limb exoskeleton device with electrodes, which comprises an exoskeleton support, an electrode controller and a flexible electrode patch combination, wherein the electrode controller is installed on the exoskeleton support, the exoskeleton support comprises two lower limb sleeve modules, a group of flexible electrode patch combinations are arranged in each lower limb sleeve module, each group of flexible electrode patch combinations comprises a plurality of electrode patches which are respectively a thigh front patch, a thigh rear patch, a hip patch, a shank front patch, a knee joint patch and a shank rear patch and are used for fitting corresponding muscle positions of legs of a human body, and each electrode patch is connected with the electrode controller through a lead. Compared with the prior art, the invention adopts a method of combining electrode stimulation and exoskeleton driving to assist the patients with spinal injuries to carry out walking rehabilitation training, and the electrodes and the exoskeleton can effectively drive muscles to move, thereby driving the muscles of the patients to exert force and accelerating the treatment process.

Description

Lower limb exoskeleton device with electrodes

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of exoskeletons, in particular to a lower limb exoskeletons device with electrodes.

Background

The lower limb exoskeleton is widely applied to the fields of spinal cord injury repair, limb injury rehabilitation and the like, and is used for assisting a patient to perform basic movement so as to reestablish corresponding movement reflection and posture correction and further regain mobility. In the rehabilitation stage, walking gait assistance and correction are performed through a semi-fixed exoskeleton in the prior art, and walking of a patient is assisted through a movable exoskeleton after the patient has certain walking ability. Limited by the existing medical process and inertial thinking, the exoskeleton can only assist the exoskeleton to move through external force when the exoskeleton is used for assistance.

The existing method for assisting walking through the exoskeleton alone has the following defects: 1) when a patient walks, the muscle of the patient cannot be driven, and only the external force can be used for assisting the movement, so that ineffective treatment is easy to generate when the patient does not exert force, and the time is wasted; 2) the muscle of the patient can be atrophied in the early rehabilitation stage, the rehabilitation effect on the muscle of the patient is not large through walking exercise driven by external force, and the efficiency is low; 3) in the early stage of rehabilitation, a patient has the concept of 'walking' and has related reactions in the brain, but as spinal nerves are damaged, the movement condition of the lower limbs of the patient is difficult or impossible to perceive and corresponding stimulation is given to the spinal nerves, the efficiency of establishing a nerve circuit is low only through external force driving, and the patient can be rehabilitated by needing a longer treatment course.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies of the prior art by providing a lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes.

The purpose of the invention can be realized by the following technical scheme:

the utility model provides a lower limbs ectoskeleton device with electrode, includes the ectoskeleton support, electrode controller and flexible electrode paster combination, the electrode controller is installed on the ectoskeleton support, the ectoskeleton support includes two lower limbs sleeve modules, sets up a set of flexible electrode paster combination in every lower limbs sleeve module, and every flexible electrode paster combination of group includes a plurality of electrode pasters, and the electrode paster is thigh front side paster respectively, thigh rear side and buttock paster, shank front side and knee joint paster and shank rear side paster for the corresponding muscle position of human shank of laminating, and every electrode paster passes through the wire and connects electrode controller.

Further, the thigh front patch is in a V-shape for covering the rectus femoris and the vastus medialis cephalus muscles fitted to the thigh front side.

Furthermore, thigh rear side and buttock paster include two upper and lower units, and the unit of upper portion has three electrode strips that are crescent and set up side by side for cover laminating gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, and the unit of lower part is two separated electrode strips, is used for covering the long head of laminating semi-tendon semimembranosus muscle and biceps femoris muscle respectively.

Furthermore, shank front side and knee joint paster include two upper and lower units, and the unit of upper portion is annular electrode strip for the laminating covers patella and peripheral ligament tendon, and the unit of lower part is an independent electrode strip for the laminating covers tibialis anterior muscle.

Furthermore, the patch on the rear side of the lower leg comprises two electrode strips with connected end parts and separated middle parts, and is used for fitting and covering the gastrocnemius on the rear side of the lower leg.

Further, still include back electrode paster, this back electrode paster includes flexible backplate to and the electrode slice of distribution on flexible backplate, the electrode slice distributes in the centre of backplate for the laminating covers latissimus dorsi and erects the spinal muscle, the both ends of flexible backplate all are equipped with crooked extension end, should extend and serve and be equipped with the electrode slice, be used for the laminating to cover extraabdominal oblique muscle, electrode controller passes through the wire and connects back electrode paster.

Further, the flexible and exoskeleton legs are detachably connected.

Further, the electrode controller includes a processor, a battery pack, and a mounting plate disposed on top of the exoskeleton support, the battery pack and the processor being secured within the mounting plate.

Furthermore, one side of the electrode patch, which is not attached to the human body, is covered with an insulating layer.

Further, the exoskeleton support further comprises a support frame, the lower limb sleeve modules are installed below the support frame, each lower limb sleeve module comprises a foot fixing sleeve, a shank fixing sleeve and a thigh fixing sleeve which are sequentially hinged, and a brushless servo motor is arranged at the hinged position.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following beneficial effects:

1. the invention integrates a flexible electrode patch combination in an exoskeleton support, and adopts a method of combining electrode stimulation with exoskeleton driving to assist a spine injury patient to carry out walking rehabilitation training. When the electrodes stimulate the muscles, the muscles move, the muscle state is effectively improved, and the condition that the muscles are not stressed and atrophied for a long time can be avoided or treated; meanwhile, the current can not only move muscles, but also stimulate nerves, so that the patient can be helped to form a corresponding motor nerve reflex loop more efficiently, and a better treatment effect is achieved. Therefore, the electrodes can effectively drive the muscles to move by combining with the exoskeleton, so that the muscles of a patient are driven to exert force, and the treatment process is accelerated.

2. The electrode patch is designed to have a shape which accords with ergonomics, and is respectively a thigh front side patch, a thigh rear side and hip patch, a shank front side and knee joint patch and a shank rear side patch, so that the elastic reinforcement can help to tighten tendons and separate fascia on the basis of electrical stimulation, the tendons are righted, the rehabilitation is promoted, the potential sports injury is reduced, the tissue fluid circulation is promoted, and the fluid circulation condition of the lower limbs of a user is improved.

3. The invention is also provided with the back electrode patch, so that the electrode stimulation is more comprehensive, and the treatment effect of the using device is improved. The back electrode patch can be detachably connected and installed as an optional part, and is convenient to use.

4. The insulating layer covers one side of the electrode patch, which is not attached to a human body, so that the effects of buffering and insulating are achieved, the damage of the exoskeleton support to the electrode patch is avoided, and the service life is prolonged.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of the overall structure of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural view of the exoskeleton stent of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of an electrode controller and a back electrode patch of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural view of the flexible electrode patch assembly of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the structure of the thigh front patch of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the structure of the patch for the rear side of the thigh and the buttocks of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the structure of the calf anterior and knee joint patch of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view of the structure of the posterior calf patch of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view of the front side mounting of the flexible electrode patch assembly of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a schematic view of the rear side mounting of the flexible electrode patch assembly of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of the back electrode patch of the present invention.

Reference numerals: 1. the exoskeleton support comprises an exoskeleton support 11, a lower limb sleeve module 111, a foot fixing sleeve 112, a lower leg fixing sleeve 113, a upper leg fixing sleeve 114, a brushless servo motor 12, a support frame 2, an electrode controller 21, a processor 22, a battery pack 23, a mounting plate 3, a flexible electrode patch combination 31, an upper leg front patch 32, an upper leg rear side and hip patch 33, an upper leg front side and knee joint patch 34, an upper leg rear side patch 4, a back electrode patch 41, a flexible back plate 42 and an electrode plate.

Detailed Description

The invention is described in detail below with reference to the figures and specific embodiments. The present embodiment is implemented on the premise of the technical solution of the present invention, and a detailed implementation manner and a specific operation process are given, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

As shown in fig. 1, the present embodiment provides a lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes, which comprises an exoskeleton support 1, an electrode controller 2 and a flexible electrode patch assembly 3.

In this embodiment, the exoskeleton support 1 adopts the existing mature technology, and can realize external driving on the legs of the human body. As shown in fig. 2, the exoskeleton trunk 1 specifically includes a top support frame 12, and two lower limb sleeve modules 11 are disposed below the top support frame 12. Each lower limb sleeve module 11 comprises a foot fixing sleeve 111, a lower leg fixing sleeve 112 and a thigh fixing sleeve 113 which are sequentially hinged from bottom to top, and a brushless servo motor 114 is arranged at the hinged position. When the exoskeleton support 1 is worn on the lower limbs of a human body, the brushless servo motor 114 drives each joint to move, so that the action of driving the lower limbs of the human body from the outside is realized. The electrode controller 2 is mounted on the top rear of the support frame 12 of the exoskeleton support 1.

As shown in fig. 3, the electrode controller 2 includes a processor 21, a battery pack 22 and a mounting plate 23, the mounting plate 23 is disposed on top of the exoskeleton support 1, and the battery pack 22 and the processor 21 are secured to the mounting plate 23. The processor 21 adopts a commercially available processing chip for controlling the output current of the electrode patch to realize electrode stimulation. The battery pack 22 employs a conventional lithium battery. The electrode controller 2 is connected with each electrode patch of the flexible electrode patch combination 3 through a lead.

As shown in fig. 4, the flexible electrode patch assemblies 3 are distributed in each lower limb sleeve module 11. Each group of flexible electrode patch combinations 3 includes a plurality of electrode patches, which are specifically divided into a thigh front patch 31, a thigh rear and hip patch 32, a shank front and knee joint patch 33, and a shank rear patch 34. A plurality of electrode patches are used to fit corresponding muscle positions of the legs of the human body, and each electrode pad 42 is connected to the electrode controller 2 through a wire. One side that the electrode paster was not laminated human body covers has the insulating layer, and the insulating layer plays buffering and insulating effect, avoids exoskeleton support 1 to cause the damage to the electrode paster, improves its life.

The thigh front patch 31 is, as shown in fig. 5, in a V-shape, and two electrode strips are used for covering the rectus femoris and the vastus medialis head muscle attached to the thigh front side. The posterior thigh and hip patch 32 is shown in fig. 6 and includes two units, an upper unit and a lower unit. The unit of upper portion has three electrode strips that are crescent and set up side by side for cover laminating gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, and the unit of lower part is two separated electrode strips, is used for covering the long head of laminating semitendinous semimembranosus muscle and biceps femoris muscle respectively, covers popliteal cord muscle promptly. As shown in fig. 7, the calf anterior and knee joint patch 33 also includes an upper unit and a lower unit, the upper unit is an annular electrode strip for fitting and covering the patella and the peripheral ligament tendon, and a gap is reserved for the patella in the middle of the annular electrode strip, so that the patella and the peripheral ligament tendon are fixed, and the possibility of knee joint injury is reduced; the unit of the lower part is a single electrode strip which is used for being attached to and covering the tibialis anterior muscle. The patch 34 on the rear side of the lower leg, as shown in fig. 8, includes two electrode strips connected at the ends and separated at the middle for fitting the gastrocnemius muscle covering the rear side of the lower leg.

As shown in fig. 9 and 10, the electrode patches (the front thigh patch 31, the rear thigh and hip patch 32, the front calf and knee patch 33, and the rear calf patch 34) of the embodiment are shown in the effect of being attached to the back of the leg of the human body. In the embodiment, the electrode patch is designed to have a shape conforming to ergonomics, the electrode trend is distributed along muscle fibers, so that tendon lacing and fascia separation can be effectively facilitated, the fascia separation and myofiber bundle correction effect is achieved, the adhesion effect is prevented, the rehabilitation is promoted, the potential sports injury is reduced, the tissue fluid circulation is promoted, and the body fluid circulation condition of the lower limbs of a user is improved.

As shown in fig. 1, the present embodiment further includes a back electrode patch 4, so that the electrode stimulation is more comprehensive, and the treatment effect of the device is improved. The back electrode patch 4 can be detachably connected and installed as an optional part. The structure of the back electrode patch 4 is shown in fig. 11, and specifically includes a flexible back plate 41, and electrode pads 42 distributed on the flexible back plate 41. The electrode sheet 42 is distributed in the middle of the flexible back plate 41 and is used for attaching and covering latissimus dorsi and erector spinae muscles. The two ends of the flexible back plate 41 are both provided with bending extension ends, and the extension ends are also provided with electrode plates 42 for fitting and covering the oblique muscle outside the abdomen. The electrode controller 2 is connected with the back electrode patch 4 through a lead. As shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3, the detachable mounting of the back electrode patch 4 can be in the form of a plug, an insertion block is disposed on the flexible back plate 41, and an insertion slot matched with the insertion block is disposed inside the support frame 12.

The working principle of the embodiment is as follows: the muscle under this embodiment utilizes the effect of discharging of electrode patch to its cover carries out the stimulation based on human motion law to the activation corresponds muscle, plays the exercise effect. The embodiment also utilizes the elasticity of the electrode patch to play a role of muscle effect patch, further assists the movement, can prevent potential tissue damage and tissue fluid accumulation, and improves the circulation. Before use, the electrode patches of the corresponding parts are adhered to the corresponding muscles, and the electrodes are connected to the electrode controller 2 through the leads. The electrode discharge sequence is controlled by the electrode controller 2, the electrode controller 2 firstly judges muscle groups needing to be tightened or relaxed in the posture by combining the detected or preset movement posture, then sends electric signals to corresponding electrodes, and the electrodes discharge to stimulate the corresponding muscles to move.

The foregoing detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented. It should be understood that numerous modifications and variations could be devised by those skilled in the art in light of the present teachings without departing from the inventive concepts. Therefore, the technical solutions available to those skilled in the art through logic analysis, reasoning and limited experiments based on the prior art according to the concept of the present invention should be within the scope of protection defined by the claims.

Claims

1. The utility model provides a lower limbs ectoskeleton device with electrode, its characterized in that includes ectoskeleton support (1), electrode controller (2) and flexible electrode paster combination (3), install on ectoskeleton support (1) electrode controller (2), ectoskeleton support (1) includes two lower limbs sleeve module (11), sets up a set of flexible electrode paster combination (3) in every lower limbs sleeve module (11), and every group's flexible electrode paster combination (3) include a plurality of electrode pasters, and the electrode paster is thigh front side paster (31), thigh rear side and buttock paster (32), shank front side and knee joint paster (33) and shank rear side paster (34) respectively for the corresponding muscle position of human shank of laminating, and every electrode paster passes through wire connection electrode controller (2).

2. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes of claim 1, wherein said front thigh patch (31) presents a V-shape for covering the rectus femoris and the medial femoral cephalic muscles fitting the front thigh.

3. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the thigh back and buttocks patch (32) comprises two upper and lower units, the upper unit has three crescent shaped electrode strips for covering the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, and the lower unit has two separated electrode strips for covering the long head of the semi-tendon semimembraneus and biceps femoris.

4. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lower leg anterior and knee joint patch (33) comprises two upper and lower units, the upper unit is a ring electrode strip for fitting over the patella and the peripheral ligamentous tendon, and the lower unit is a single electrode strip for fitting over the tibialis anterior.

5. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes of claim 1 wherein the lower leg posterior patch (34) includes two separate electrode strips connected at their ends for fitting over the gastrocnemius muscle covering the lower leg posterior side.

6. The lower limb exoskeleton device with electrodes as claimed in claim 1 further comprises a back electrode patch (4), wherein the back electrode patch (4) comprises a flexible backboard (41), and electrode plates (42) distributed on the flexible backboard (41), the electrode plates (42) are distributed in the middle of the backboard and are used for covering latissimus dorsi and erector spinae muscles in a fitting manner, both ends of the flexible backboard (41) are provided with bent extending ends, the extending ends are provided with the electrode plates (42) for covering the extraabdominal oblique muscles in a fitting manner, and the electrode controller (2) is connected with the back electrode patch (4) through a lead.

7. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes of claim 6 where the flexible and exoskeleton legs (1) are detachably connected.

8. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes of claim 1, wherein the electrode controller (2) comprises a processor (21), a battery pack (22) and a mounting plate (23), the mounting plate (23) is disposed on top of the exoskeleton support (1), and the battery pack (22) and processor (21) are fixed within the mounting plate (23).

9. The lower extremity exoskeleton device of claim 1 where the side of the electrode patch that does not conform to the human body is covered with an insulating layer.

10. The lower extremity exoskeleton device with electrodes as claimed in claim 1, wherein the exoskeleton support (1) further comprises a support frame (12), the lower extremity sleeve modules (11) are installed under the support frame (12), each lower extremity sleeve module (11) comprises a foot fixing sleeve (111), a calf fixing sleeve (112) and a thigh fixing sleeve (113) which are hinged in sequence, and a brushless servo motor (114) is provided at the hinged position.