Unlike other equivalents, this system activates all leg joints during the recovery period. It can help rehabilitate patients after serious injuries, teach children with cerebral palsy how to walk as well as improve the performance of athletes.
The project took over four years to evolve, with its participants patenting a useful model in 2017. Today, a team of researchers from the university’s Higher School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and its Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service are preparing for the final project-implementation stage. They are now set to assemble and test a prototype system, said project author Alexei Petrov, a lecturer with the Faculty of Computers at the university’s Higher School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences.
“The rehabilitation system, based on the Continuous Passive Motion technology rehabilitates patients after injuries and teaches them how to walk again. It is common knowledge that various processes inside the human body hamper post-operative rehabilitation. We aim to manipulate human limbs, to enhance their mobility and to mobilize their potential,” he told Sputnik.
Earlier, similar systems were only used to rehabilitate patients with knee and pelvic injuries, Petrov explained. But the new system treats ankles and all other joints.
The invention also simulates the walking process which is very important for forming a correct moving stereotype. This allows patients to continue walking after serious injuries. There are also plans to use the system for rehabilitating children with cerebral palsy, so that they would be able to walk normally.
Rehabilitation usually begins on the second day after a surgery. A patient’s leg is fixed inside the mechatronic device using a flexible suspension which simulates the leg’s sustained walking movements, and the leg’s ankle moves along two planes. The limb is controlled by rotating the engine that turns the device and causes it to change position. The patient’s leg also changes position as a result.
“The system’s unusual design allows it to perform better than other equivalents and creates some advantages. For example, it can be easily attached to the limb. Unlike other systems, it is possible to combine the rotational axis of the new invention’s joint and hinges. Therefore we can set accurate walking trajectories and teach patients how to walk. Other similar systems are less accurate in this respect, and they don’t ensure optimal control,” Petrov noted.
In their article, due to be published in the People, Sports, Medicine journal, university researchers discuss the history of developing a system to rehabilitate patients after strokes. This system uses a “mirror” technology for stimulating the body’s affected part with the help of its healthy part and by creating artificial optical feedback.
In March 2018, they published another research paper, noting that the system could teach people how to perform complicated coordinated movements that are necessary for athletes and skiers during their training.
According to researchers, the system helps athletes streamline their skiing techniques and therefore scoring better results.
Scientists are set to manufacture some other devices for rehabilitating patients after severe injuries.
