Abstract
Most hemiplegic patients stand up using their unaffected leg. For this reason, it is necessary for patients to learn to decrease the use of the unaffected leg and to increase the use of the affected leg while standing up. The purpose of this study was to develop a motion support system to help patients increase the use of the affected leg while standing up and to confirm the effectiveness of the new system by conducting a standing experiment in a hemiplegic patient. The new system provides visual motor information for each leg by measuring the floor reaction force (FRF) while standing up. Furthermore, the system supports sit-to-stand motion when FRF of the affected leg increases more than the threshold calculated from unassisted standing motions. A basic experiment confirmed that the FRF sensor can measure the FRF of each leg separately. The standing experiment was performed in a volunteer in order to confirm that the patient can increase the use of the affected leg by using the system. The results showed that while standing up, the usage ratio of the affected side increased by 11.4% and that of the unaffected side decreased by 55.9%. In addition, FRF of the affected leg while standing with the system was 239N, and FRF without the system was 175N. These results suggest that the new system is effective in helping hemiplegic patients to increase the use of the affected leg.
