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Open AccessOptimizing exoskeleton assistance to improve walking speed and energy economy for older adults
Walking speed and energy economy tend to decline with age. Lower-limb exoskeletons have demonstrated potential to improve either measure, but primarily in studies conducted on healthy younger adults. Promising...
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Article
Open AccessPersonalizing exoskeleton assistance while walking in the real world
Personalized exoskeleton assistance provides users with the largest improvements in walking speed1 and energy economy2–4 but requires lengthy tests under unnatural laboratory conditions. Here we show that exoskel...
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Article
Open AccessCharacterizing the relationship between peak assistance torque and metabolic cost reduction during running with ankle exoskeletons
Reducing the energy cost of running with exoskeletons could improve enjoyment, reduce fatigue, and encourage participation among novice and ageing runners. Previously, tethered ankle exoskeleton emulators with...
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Article
Open AccessOptimized hip-knee-ankle exoskeleton assistance reduces the metabolic cost of walking with worn loads
Load carriage is common in a wide range of professions, but prolonged load carriage is associated with increased fatigue and overuse injuries. Exoskeletons could improve the quality of life of these profession...
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Article
Open AccessOptimized hip–knee–ankle exoskeleton assistance at a range of walking speeds
Autonomous exoskeletons will need to be useful at a variety of walking speeds, but it is unclear how optimal hip–knee–ankle exoskeleton assistance should change with speed. Biological joint moments tend to inc...
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Article
Open AccessSensing leg movement enhances wearable monitoring of energy expenditure
Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of global mortality. Health organizations have requested a tool to objectively measure physical activity. Respirometry and doubly labeled water accurately estima...
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Article
Open AccessSelf-selected step length asymmetry is not explained by energy cost minimization in individuals with chronic stroke
Asymmetric gait post-stroke is associated with decreased mobility, yet individuals with chronic stroke often self-select an asymmetric gait despite being capable of walking more symmetrically. The purpose of t...
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Article
Open AccessUsing force data to self-pace an instrumented treadmill and measure self-selected walking speed
Self-selected speed is an important functional index of walking. A self-pacing controller that reliably matches walking speed without additional hardware can be useful for measuring self-selected speed in a tr...
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Article
Open AccessRapid energy expenditure estimation for ankle assisted and inclined loaded walking
Estimating energy expenditure with indirect calorimetry requires expensive equipment and several minutes of data collection for each condition of interest. While several methods estimate energy expenditure usi...
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Article
Reducing the energy cost of human walking using an unpowered exoskeleton
With efficiencies derived from evolution, growth and learning, humans are very well-tuned for locomotion1. Metabolic energy used during walking can be partly replaced by power input from an exoskeleton2, but is i...
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Article
Open AccessOnce-per-step control of ankle-foot prosthesis push-off work reduces effort associated with balance during walking
Individuals with below-knee amputation have more difficulty balancing during walking, yet few studies have explored balance enhancement through active prosthesis control. We previously used a dynamical model t...
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Article
Open AccessThe influence of push-off timing in a robotic ankle-foot prosthesis on the energetics and mechanics of walking
Robotic ankle-foot prostheses that provide net positive push-off work can reduce the metabolic rate of walking for individuals with amputation, but benefits might be sensitive to push-off timing. Simple walkin...
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Article
Open AccessProsthetic ankle push-off work reduces metabolic rate but not collision work in non-amputee walking
Individuals with unilateral below-knee amputation expend more energy than non-amputees during walking and exhibit reduced push-off work and increased hip work in the affected limb. Simple dynamic models of wal...
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Open AccessHow Crouch Gait Can Dynamically Induce Stiff-Knee Gait
Children with cerebral palsy frequently experience foot dragging and trip** during walking due to a lack of adequate knee flexion in swing (stiff-knee gait). Stiff-knee gait is often accompanied by an overly...
