调节髋外骨骼助动力时间与大小，可显著提升防滑步态稳定性。
Systematic Evaluation of Hip Exoskeleton Assistance Parameters for Enhancing Gait Stability During Ground Slip Perturbations
- 通过系统调节助动力大小和持续时间，发现时间参数决定助动效果是稳定还是失稳。
- 最优参数使全身角动量波动范围平均降低25.7%，优于传统节能控制器。
- 个体差异大，需个性化定制，适合老年跌倒风险干预场景。
跌倒是老年人受伤住院和死亡的首要原因。因此，缓解年龄相关的步态不稳并降低行走中跌倒风险，是辅助设备的关键目标。下肢外骨骼有望在行走中维持稳定性，但多数控制器以降低能耗为目标，而非提升稳定性。尽管部分研究报告了助动带来的稳定性收益，但助动幅度与持续时间等具体参数的影响仍不明确。本研究在8名健康成年人中，系统调节双侧髋外骨骼在滑倒扰动下的扭矩大小与持续时间，采用全身角动量（WBAM）量化稳定性。结果表明，助动大小与持续时间存在显著交互作用，持续时间决定了助动是稳定还是加剧失稳。相比现有节能优化控制器，实验确定的稳定性最优参数使WBAM范围平均降低25.7%。值得注意的是，不同受试者间实现最小化WBAM的参数组合差异显著。研究证实，仅优化能耗不足以提升步态扰动下的反应稳定性。稳定性导向的外骨骼控制应优先考虑时间参数，并引入个体化适配。该研究为个性化、稳定性导向的外骨骼控制提供了重要基础，对降低老年人跌倒风险具有直接意义。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Falls are the leading cause of injury related hospitalization and mortality among older adults. Consequently, mitigating age-related declines in gait stability and reducing fall risk during walking is a critical goal for assistive devices. Lower-limb exoskeletons have the potential to support users in maintaining stability during walking. However, most exoskeleton controllers are optimized to reduce the energetic cost of walking rather than to improve stability. While some studies report stability benefits with assistance, the effects of specific parameters, such as assistance magnitude and duration, remain unexplored. To address this gap, we systematically modulated the magnitude and duration of torque provided by a bilateral hip exoskeleton during slip perturbations in eight healthy adults, quantifying stability using whole-body angular momentum (WBAM). WBAM responses were governed by a significant interaction between assistance magnitude and duration, with duration determining whether exoskeleton assistance was stabilizing or destabilizing relative to not wearing the exoskeleton device. Compared to an existing energy-optimized controller, experimentally identified stability-optimal parameters reduced WBAM range by 25.7% on average. Notably, substantial inter-subject variability was observed in the parameter combinations that minimized WBAM during perturbations. We found that optimizing exoskeleton assistance for energetic outcomes alone is insufficient for improving reactive stability during gait perturbations. Stability-focused exoskeleton control should prioritize temporal assistance parameters and include user-specific personalization. This study represents an important step toward personalized, stability-focused exoskeleton control, with direct implications for improving stability and reducing fall risk in older adults.
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