1P1-A15 Development of an ankle foot orthosis with penumatic passive elements : negative pressure control based on walking cycle

Abstract

In this paper, new penumatic passive elements for ankel foot orthoses (AFO) are developed. The mechanisms of the elements becomes simpler. Thus, the process for forming become shorter, the attachment of the elements to AFO becomes easier and the constraint force under the same pressure increases. Experimental results show that an AFO with the developed element realizes the performances of some conventional AFO when the pressure in the element is controlled by passive pump and it also realizes the performance, which cannot be realized with any conventional AFOs, when the pressure in the element is controlled by an active pump.