Modular Acquiring System for Lower Limb Rehabilitation Machines

Abstract

The present paper refers to a research work aiming at implementing a modular acquiring system to be exploited in machines designed for lower limb muscles active rehabilitation. Mechatronic devices, as explained in H.S. Lo and S.Q. Xie, Med. Eng. & Phys 34:261–268 2012 and X. Cheng et al., Proc. Eng 15:688–692, 2011, have given a relevant contribution to this field during last years, offering intensive treatments allowing individuals to restore as much as possible their motion capabilities, damaged by an injury, a disease or a lesion. But many machines do not have the possibility to obtain information about patient’s biomechanical parameters during an active rehabilitation exercise. Starting from this concept, sensors, whether introduced into such devices, make accurate measurements and provide real-time data, which could be useful performance indicators, helping the physician to evaluate subject’s condition and therapy efficiency. This work is articulated as follows: after having described the system, performed experimental analysis will be illustrated, and obtained results will be provided.