Design and control of an experimental active elbow support for adult Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy patients

Currently, a considerable group of adult Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy patients lives with severe physical impairments and strong dependency on care. Active arm supports can improve their quality of life by augmenting their arm´s residual motor capabilities. This paper presents the design and control of an experimental active elbow support specially made to investigate different control interfaces with adult DMD patients. The system can be controlled either with EMG or force signals which are used as inputs for an admittance-based controller. A preliminary test with a 22-year-old DMD patient with no arm function left, shows that the system is capable of successfully supporting the elbow flexion-extension movements using the low-amplitude EMG and force signals that still remained measurable.