KR101471856B1 - Active type step assistance apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is an active-type walking assistance device. The active-type walking assistance device comprises a body unit equipped with a handle formed at the top end thereof and a caster unit formed at the bottom end thereof so that wheels can be rotated; a force/torque (F/T) sensor installed on the handle and sensing a walking speed and a walking direction desired by a user through power applied from the user; a wireless terminal worn on the body of the user to sense the slope and motion of the user′s body; a first operating motor installed on the caster unit to operate the wheels; a second operating motor installed on the caster unit of the body unit so as to rotate and operate the body unit based on an axial direction of the body unit; a third operating motor disposed at the top end of the body unit along a length direction of the body unit; and a control unit which receives signals respectively from the F/T sensor and the wireless terminal, controls the first operating motor through a pre-saved program, controls the operation of the wheels, controls at least two of the first to third operating motors, and provides the user with haptic feedback signals.

Description

[0001] ACTIVE TYPE STEP ASSISTANCE APPARATUS [0002]

The present invention relates to an active walking aiding device, and more particularly, to provide a haptic information in place of a lost sensory body in an elderly or neurological disease patient caused by a loss or degeneration of a sensory organ, And a mobile-based active type walking assist device capable of maximizing a fall prevention effect.

Human walking is one of the indispensable factors to maintain everyday life, but the loss of walking ability leads to loss of self - confidence due to fear of falling and self - In particular, more than 40% of elderly people aged 80 years or older in the United States are reported to experience loss of walking ability. Major factors that cause loss of walking ability include physical injury due to falls, stroke, osteoarthritis, And brain damage.

For normal walking, a balanced sense of being able to maintain an upright posture is required to withstand dynamic changes in the acceleration of each joint, and patients with brain diseases who can not perform a normal gait due to loss of balance and sense- It is important to be able to rehabilitate and rehabilitate on its own by recovering or compensating. For normal gait pattern, rhythmic gait movement is required through harmonious interlocking of musculoskeletal system and sensory nervous system such as muscle strength and joints.

Studies in traditional brain science have shown that external information obtained by the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory nervous systems, in spite of partial loss of musculoskeletal function, enhances postural stability in both static and dynamic states, It is reported that there is a great effect on the prevention of falls and the rehabilitation of walking in paralysis patients. As an example of such a study, we have found that the balance of the body is stabilized by using haptic information obtained by touching a finger on a stationary surface (Light Touch, LT) (contact force of 1N or less). It is interpreted that the contact of the finger on the stable surface provides the reference frame information to the central nervous system to detect the spatial position and direction of the body so as to predict the muscle activation for the posture control. In addition, it has been confirmed that the body balancing ability is improved when the haptic information is provided to the user in the direction that the center of gravity becomes unstable through the light touch or the light grip regardless of the stopping or moving environment.

An elderly / mildly disabled person (for example, a chronic stroke patient) who is capable of partial walking on the ground has a weakened strength of the paralyzed lower limbs and has asymmetry of gait and a reduced sagittal sense of paralysis The inherent sense of acceptance is greater than normal, and there is a great risk of falls.

To prevent these falls, elderly / mildly disabled people use walking sticks or walkers when walking.

Referring to FIG. 1, the cane 1 is designed to support about 25% of the pedestrian weight and to help maintain parallelism. The walker 3 as shown in FIG. 2 is a most stable walker, which maximizes the support area. However, the walker 5 is provided with a wheel 5a as shown in FIG. 3 Such a wheel-type walker 5 helps balance maintenance but has no weight bearing effect.

Therefore, the wand 1 shown in Fig. 1 provides only a minimal balancing function, and the walker 3, 5 shown in Figs. 2 and 3 has an increased balance and support function as compared to a wand.

By properly using these conventional walking aids, it is possible to increase the weight-bearing capacity of mild patients to improve their balance ability, thereby increasing the walking ability of stroke patients and stroke patients. By using direct physical support, .

However, the problem of the above-mentioned conventional walking assist device in terms of walking rehabilitation of a stroke patient is that the patient is overly dependent on the walking assist device, thereby causing fall and musculoskeletal pain. In addition, since the upper extremity supersedes the support of the uncomfortable lower limb, the long-term view intensifies the reduction in function of the lower limb and changes in the patient's gait pattern.

Therefore, a walker that can force the use of the legs while maintaining the balance of the body in the gait movement is needed.

To this end, a developed robotic walker designed to increase the operability of pedestrians by adding a brake function by motor control at the national / ward / out side and using a force sensor attached to the handle has been proposed.

However, the improved robot-type walker also shows limitation of arm movement and posture bending during walking, which is a fundamental problem of the walker itself, and focuses on merely increasing the mobility, and it is necessary to prevent falls between rehabilitation / The research that provides the function has not yet been presented.

4A to 4C, in the case of a walking aiding device using a robot, there are a large number of researches that focus on treatment using a treadmill and a study focusing on mobility using an exoskeleton robot. .

As shown in FIG. 4A, a typical treadmill utilizing apparatus Lokomat (TM) 11 employs a method of repeatedly performing a patient's gait training with a combination of a treadmill, an exoskeleton type robot, and a weight support for indoor walking rehabilitation training have. These devices provide safety during training but provide limited exercise of the pelvic and knee movements and the patients themselves can not perform the gait training due to the sense of balance.

The KineAssist ™ system shown in FIG. 4B has been proposed for the purpose of improving this, but the system is still complicated and expensive, the physical therapist's approach is difficult, have.

As another approach, a walking assist device 15, which is an exoskeleton device shown in Fig. 4C, has been proposed. This actively compensates for the torque required by the user (patient) when walking. Although the conventional exoskeleton device is guaranteed to have mobility, there is a disadvantage that the power capacity of the actuator must be increased in order for each joint to support the weight of the patient by wearing a heavy exoskeleton device to the user (patient).

In addition, the above two types of devices are not effective in cost-effective rehabilitation because they do not experience gait movement due to autonomous integration of musculoskeletal, sensory, and nervous systems in walking on the ground .

Recently, brain science research has focused on research on light touch (LT), in which the stability of the balance is increased even when the user is only touching the stabilized surface. In addition, when the haptic information is provided in the unstable direction of the center of gravity to the hand (Light Grip, LG) holding the stick as well as the stick, the balance ability of the body is improved regardless of the fixed floor or dynamic floor. And suggests the possibility of applying the balance stabilization through the haptic during the movement such as walking. In particular, when walking with light contact, the duration of the stance phase of the paralyzed legs was increased, and by confirming that the paralyzed muscles were largely activated during the puberty, the light contact achieved both gait stability and rehabilitation effect It can be a way to be.

The inventions with meaningful clinical results using haptic technology, a concept different from robot systems and walkers, include a system using a smartphone (iPhone) accelerometer and commercial software ("tactor bud") at the University of Michigan (Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation "Cell phone based balance trainer", published on Feb. 20, 2012) and a shoe with a vibration motor inserted to provide synchronized vibration stimulation during walking during Harvard's College season (Journal of Neuroengineering and Rehabilitation "Effect of step-synchronized Parkinson ' s disease: a pilot study ", published on May 4, 2006). However, they do not provide haptic information for assistance to the walking itself, and provide only vibrotactile information, so that it is not possible to provide the user with accurate direction and size information of the haptic, so that the biofeedback effect is insignificant. In addition, the development of a device capable of actively linking haptic information with existing walking aids to provide balance and force support has not been developed.

The problems of the previous studies are summarized as follows.

First, traditional walking aids have the disadvantage of imposing an excessive burden on the upper extremities while reducing the activation of the uncomfortable legs, resulting in asymmetric walking.

Second, Robot-assisted gait orthosis has less effective gait rehabilitation than traditional gait rehabilitation.

Third, Robotic walking aids mainly provide outdoor information and guiding functions, and devices for increasing walking stability and walking symmetry through directional haptic feedback have not been proposed.

The present invention provides a method for maximizing the effect of rehabilitation and fall prevention by increasing the balance stability of pedestrians by providing haptic information in place of the lost sensory organs of the elderly or neurological disease patients caused by loss or degeneration of sensory organs A mobile-based active walking aid is provided.

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a cabinet comprising: a body portion having a handle at an upper end thereof and a wheel rotatably installed at a lower end thereof through a castor portion; An F / T (Force / Torque) sensor installed on the handle to sense a walking speed and a walking direction intended by a user through a force transferred by a user; A wireless terminal that is worn on the body of the user to detect a tilt and a shake of the user's body; A first drive motor installed in the casters to drive the wheels; A second driving motor installed in the caster portion of the body portion for rotationally driving the body portion about the axial direction of the body portion; A third driving motor disposed at an upper end of the body along a longitudinal direction of the body; And controlling the first driving motor to control driving of the wheel by receiving signals from the F / T sensor and the wireless terminal, controlling the first driving motor through a program stored in advance, and controlling at least two of the first to third driving motors And a controller for providing a haptic feedback signal to the user.

The present invention may further include a braking unit installed on the castor unit for braking driving of the wheels, and the braking unit may be controlled by the control unit.

The control unit may control the second and third drive motors to generate a haptic feedback signal to the user.

Preferably, the wireless terminal is a smart phone having an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor.

In addition, the present invention may further include an encoder installed in the caster unit to measure a user's walking forward speed and direction switching speed in real time, and the encoder may measure the walking forward speed signal and the direction switching speed signal To the control unit.

As described above, in the present invention, a patient with a neurological disease can further induce weight support to a paralyzed leg of a patient during walking, thereby helping to activate paralyzed muscles.

In addition, the present invention can provide a balance stability during walking and natural walking, while at the same time, it can replace the staff of the elderly by utilizing the advantage of high mobility.

Furthermore, in the case of Parkion's Disease, a patient suffering from degenerative brain disease, the risk of falling due to freezing of gait is greatly increased. It is possible to effectively prevent falls.

1 is a view showing a conventional traditional cane.
2 is a view showing a conventional walker.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a conventional walker in which the walker of FIG. 2 is partially improved.
4A to 4C are views showing various conventional walking aids using a robot.
5 is a block diagram illustrating an active type walking aiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing an active type walking aiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a use state of an active walking aiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the embodiments described below are provided for illustrative purposes only, and that the present invention may be embodied with various modifications and alterations. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. In addition, the attached drawings are not drawn to scale in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, but the dimensions of some of the components may be exaggerated.

Hereinafter, a configuration of an active type walking aiding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

5 and 6, an active walking aiding apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a body 110, a caster 112, a wheel 113, first to third driving motors A Force / Torque (F / T) sensor 150, a wireless terminal 170, and a controller 190.

The body portion 110 is formed to have a predetermined thickness and length, such as a cane shape, and the material may be made of any one of wood, light metal, and synthetic resin in consideration of weight and rigidity.

The body 110 has a handle 111 which can be grasped by a user at its upper end and a castor 112 capable of rotating 360 degrees with respect to the axial direction of the body 110 do. In this case, the castor unit 112 is rotated by the second drive motor 132 with respect to the body 110. Particularly, the second driving motor 132 may rotate the body 110 to provide haptic information to the user so that the user can control the auxiliary walking device 100 in a proper direction.

In addition, the caster portion 112 is provided with a support base 112a for rotatably supporting both sides of the wheel 113. In this case, the support base 112a is provided with a first drive motor 131 for driving the wheel 113 to rotate.

In this case, it is preferable that the first drive motor 131 is composed of a small active motor for quick response to the unbalance direction of the center of gravity and generation of a precise force. The first driving motor 131 may be a kinesthetic force of a light grip such as a minute force within 2 to 3N so as to provide haptic information to a user, Force).

The wheel 113 is rotationally driven by the first drive motor 131 about a direction substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the body 110.

A braking unit 135 for braking the second drive motor 132 is installed on the support base 112a of the castor unit 112. [

The braking unit 135 may include, for example, an MR brake (Magneto-Rheological Fluid Brake: Load Corp., MRB-2107-3, Maximum on-state Torque: 5.6 [Nm]). In addition, since the MR brake is small, it does not greatly affect the overall weight of the walking aiding device 100, so that the user can easily operate the walking aiding device 100.

Accordingly, by combining the braking unit 135, which is an active brake, with the second driving motor 132 in order to generate a resistance for ensuring the stability of the user, safety such as a traditional cane is provided to a patient having severe paralysis The rotation of the wheel 113 can be stopped by the braking unit 135 to provide stability of the patient and provide a kinesthetic force of light grip. Thus, the walking aiding apparatus 100 can provide haptic information on the walking stability direction to the user through the braking unit 135 and the second driving unit 132. [

The F / T sensor 150 is provided on the handle 111 for grasping the intention (the walking speed and the walking direction) of the user who wants to adjust the auxiliary walking apparatus 100 in relation to the walking. The F / T sensor 150 is a nano-type F / T sensor, and transmits an accurate force information value to the controller 190 for haptic feedback control.

The F / T sensor 150 may be used for user evaluation and rehabilitation as well as accurate haptic feedback generation.

The third driving motor 133 is installed along the axial direction of the body 110 between the body 110 and the handle 111. The third drive motor 133 together with the first and second drive motors 131 and 132 provide haptic information to the user.

That is, the above-described first and third drive motors 131, 132, 133 (in particular, the second and third drive motors 132, 133 in this embodiment can be used solely to provide haptic information) By providing active haptic information, which is not passive but instantaneous, to the user for haptic feedback, it can greatly help the user to maintain a stable posture while walking.

The first drive motor 131 is a forward direction, the second drive motor 132 is the direction of rotation, the third driving motor 133, and in order to feel the axial force, cylinder coordinate movement through them (r, θ , h ) is possible. Accordingly, the user can provide feedback on the rotation while allowing the user to naturally walk forward and walk on the secondary gait apparatus 100.

Meanwhile, the castor unit 112 may be provided with an encoder 160 for measuring the walking forward speed and the direction switching (or turning) speed in real time. In this case, the encoder 160 is electrically connected to the controller 190 to transmit the gait speed signal and the direction change (or rotation) speed signal measured in real time to the controller 190.

The wireless terminal 170 senses the state of the user (for example, a tilt or a shake of the user in a walking state) and transmits wireless (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) to the controller 190 through the wireless communication unit 191 And a normal smartphone can be applied.

The wireless terminal 170 includes a bi-axial accelerometer for grasping the degree of unbalance of the user and a gyro sensor for grasping the rotational acceleration of the body. It is preferable to wear it at a position of the user's pelvis.

The wearing position of the wireless terminal 170 is proportional to the root mean square of the center of gravity of the patients with nervous system disease and the elderly, and the instability in the inward / outward direction is proportional to the risk of falling This is to accurately measure the balance instability in the forward and inward directions of the user.

Furthermore, the wireless terminal 170 can estimate the direction and size of instability of the body by measuring the acceleration magnitude (RMS) of the center of gravity using the peak value of the acceleration sensor. The variability of various time and space walking variables such as cadence, swing time, stance time, and double stance time was measured using the peak value of the acceleration sensor. May be installed to measure the degree of instability of the walking.

In addition, in the present embodiment, a spatio-temporal gait, such as a stride number, a walking speed, a step time, and a swing time through an inertial sensor (an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor) parameter measurement can be used to determine the patient's gait and to perform appropriate control according to the user's situation without restricting the user's mobility and without attaching additional devices to the body.

The control unit 190 receives a signal sensed by the F / T sensor 150 (a signal for grasping the intention of the user) and a signal sensed by the wireless terminal 170 (a signal for grasping the state of the user) And controls the first to third driving motors 131, 132, 133 and the braking unit 135 by analyzing the signals through a program stored in advance.

The control unit 190 receives a signal for determining the user's intention through the F / T sensor 150, and drives the wheels through the first driving unit 131 so that the user can walk forward.

The control unit 190 receives the walking state of the user (patient) and the balance sensor value of the body from the wireless terminal 170 and controls the second and third driving motors 132 and 133 through the impedance control, And the haptic feedback control is performed.

Although the controller 190 controls the first to third driving motors 131, 132 and 133 in response to the signals received from the F / T sensor 150 and the wireless terminal 170 in the above description, The signal received from the sensor 150 and the wireless terminal 170 is collected to drive only the first to third driving units 131, 132 and 133 or the second and third driving units 132 and 133 through the previously stored program, Information can be conveyed.

In this case, the assistant walking device 100 can provide the user with light grip type haptic information in real time through the grip 111 during the walking. That is, while providing haptic information in the form of resistance in the opposite direction of the center of gravity of the user (patient) during the walk, the patient can wear a heavy driving device or a complex robot device It is possible to provide the walking symmetry and stability.

As described above, the active walking assist device 100 according to the present invention can adjust the braking function according to the patient's state and rehabilitation mode, thereby providing the haptic force to the handle 111 while ensuring the stability of the patient, Thereby enhancing balance stability and inducing natural symmetric walking.

Referring to FIG. 7, the active type walking aiding apparatus 100 according to the present invention can be used for a straight walking (see FIG. 7A), a changing direction (see FIG. 7B) (See Fig. 7 (c)), various types of haptic feedback information can be provided to the user through the knob 111. [

Meanwhile, the safety bar 200 can be installed in the middle of the body 110 in the walking aiding device 100. When the safety bar 200 is tilted at a predetermined angle, the safety bar 170 is placed on the ground, so that the body 110 can be prevented from dropping and can be safely installed on the ground.

As described above, according to the present invention, the concept of static and dynamic posture stability using haptic information such as light contact can be performed simultaneously with walking rehabilitation and fall prevention. Therefore, So that the balance ability can be improved. Accordingly, it is possible to suggest a new approach that replaces the complicated mechanism of the device for preventing rehabilitation of walking and falling according to the prior art.

The present invention can help the paralyzed muscles to be activated by further inducing weight support to the paralyzed legs of the patient during the walking of the patient with nervous system disease, while providing balance stability and natural walking while walking Using the advantage of high mobility, it is possible to replace the staff of the elderly.

Furthermore, in the case of Parkion's Disease, a patient suffering from degenerative brain disease, the risk of falling due to freezing of gait is greatly increased. It is possible to effectively prevent falls.

In addition, when the sensor function of a smart phone having high penetration rate is used, it is possible to naturally detect user's movement in real time without restricting the mobility and movement of the user. By using the information of this smartphone, it is possible to provide haptic feedback through user balance detection effectively, and it is possible to greatly increase practical applicability, so that the function of musculoskeletal system weakened in rehabilitation training for overcoming paralysis symptoms is supplemented with haptic So that the active fall prevention function in daily life can be effectively performed. In this way, it is possible to maximize the effects of rehabilitation and fall prevention by increasing the balance stability of pedestrians by providing haptic information in place of the lost sensory organs of the elderly and neurological disease patients caused by loss or degeneration of sensory organs .

Meanwhile, since the present invention can provide active haptic information naturally to the patient while the patient is walking, the neuro-scientist can study the effect of the haptic information on the dynamic motion on the patient (the pedestrian) Platform can be provided. Furthermore, since the haptic information is naturally provided to the patient while walking, it is also possible to apply the haptic information to a virtual reality input device such as a cross country ski cross-country ski.

In addition, the balance stabilization technology using the haptic, which is a partial technology of the system, can be used as a basic technology for controlling a wearable exoskeleton device, which is of great interest in the field of robots in recent years, Of course, can be utilized.

While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, Various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art.

110: body part 111: handle
112: caster portion 112a:
113: wheels 131-133: first to third drive motors
135: Blower 150: F / T sensor
160: Encoder 170: Wireless terminal
190:

Claims (5)

A body portion having a handle at an upper end thereof and a wheel rotatably installed at a lower end thereof through a castor portion;
An F / T (Force / Torque) sensor installed on the handle to sense a walking speed and a walking direction intended by a user through a force transferred by a user;
A wireless terminal that is worn on the body of the user to detect a tilt and a shake of the user's body;
A first drive motor installed in the casters to drive the wheels;
A second driving motor installed in the caster portion of the body portion for rotationally driving the body portion about the axial direction of the body portion;
A third driving motor disposed at an upper end of the body along a longitudinal direction of the body; And
A controller for receiving signals from the F / T sensor and the wireless terminal, controlling the first driving motor through a pre-stored program to control driving of the wheels, and controlling at least two of the first to third driving motors And a controller for providing the user with a haptic feedback signal. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a braking unit installed on the casters to brak the driving of the wheels, wherein the braking unit is controlled by the controller. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the controller controls the second and third driving motors to generate a haptic feedback signal to the user. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the wireless terminal is a smart phone having an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising an encoder installed in the caster unit to measure a user's walking forward speed and direction switching speed in real time, wherein the encoder transmits a walking forward speed signal and a direction switching speed signal measured in real time to the controller Active walking aids feature.

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