用强化学习模拟单侧肌无力如何导致步态不对称,并测试脚踝外骨骼能否改善。
Gait Asymmetry from Unilateral Weakness and Improvement With Ankle Assistance: a Reinforcement Learning based Simulation Study
- 用强化学习构建肌肉骨骼仿真,逐步减弱右腿肌力模拟损伤
- 肌力降至25%时踝关节对称性指数降为-47.1%,负载明显偏向健侧
- 脚踝外骨骼在50%肌力下可提升步态对称性,适合早期康复设备设计
单侧肌无力常引发步态不对称,破坏双肢协调与支撑时间。本研究提出一种基于强化学习(RL)的肌肉骨骼仿真框架,旨在量化渐进性单侧肌无力对步态对称性的影响,并评估脚踝外骨骼辅助在受损状态下是否可改善步态对称性。通过将右腿肌力分别降低至基线的75%、50%和25%,以足离地时间、峰值接触力及关节层面对称性指标衡量步态不对称性。随着肌力下降,时间与运动学不对称性逐步加剧,踝关节表现最显著。当肌力为25%时,踝关节对称性指数(SI)由100%时的+6.4%恶化至-47.1%,相关性从r=0.974降至0.889,同时负载向健侧转移。在50%肌力条件下,脚踝外骨骼辅助使踝关节对称性指数从25.8%降至18.5%,相关性从r=0.948提升至0.966,尽管峰值负荷仍偏向健侧。该框架支持对损伤程度与辅助策略的可控评估,为后续人体实验验证提供基础。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Unilateral muscle weakness often leads to asymmetric gait, disrupting interlimb coordination and stance timing. This study presents a reinforcement learning (RL) based musculoskeletal simulation framework to (1) quantify how progressive unilateral muscle weakness affects gait symmetry and (2) evaluate whether ankle exoskeleton assistance can improve gait symmetry under impaired conditions. The overarching goal is to establish a simulation- and learning-based workflow that supports early controller development prior to patient experiments. Asymmetric gait was induced by reducing right-leg muscle strength to 75%, 50%, and 25% of baseline. Gait asymmetry was quantified using toe-off timing, peak contact forces, and joint-level symmetry metrics. Increasing weakness produced progressively larger temporal and kinematic asymmetry, most pronounced at the ankle. Ankle range of motion symmetry degraded from near-symmetric behavior at 100% strength (symmetry index, SI = +6.4%; correlation r=0.974) to severe asymmetry at 25% strength (SI = -47.1%, r=0.889), accompanied by a load shift toward the unimpaired limb. At 50% strength, ankle exoskeleton assistance improved kinematic symmetry relative to the unassisted impaired condition, reducing the magnitude of ankle SI from 25.8% to 18.5% and increasing ankle correlation from r=0.948 to 0.966, although peak loading remained biased toward the unimpaired side. Overall, this framework supports controlled evaluation of impairment severity and assistive strategies, and provides a basis for future validation in human experiments.
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