A Device and Method to Identify Hip, Knee and Ankle Joint Impedance During Walking

Knowledge on joint impedance during walking in various conditions is relevant for clinical decision making and the development of robotic gait trainers, leg prostheses, leg orthotics, and wearable exoskeletons. Whereas ankle impedance during walking has been experimentally assessed, knee and hip joint impedance during walking have not been identified yet. Here we developed and evaluated a lower limb perturbator to identify hip, knee and ankle joint impedance during treadmill walking. The lower limb perturbator (LOPER) consists of an actuator connected to the thigh via rods. The LOPER allows to apply force perturbations to a free-hanging leg, while standing on the contralateral leg, with a bandwidth of up to 39Hz. While walking in minimal impedance mode, the interaction forces between LOPER and the thigh were low (