Kinematic Stability in Quadrupedal Locomotion

In the rehabilitation process of locomotory disabled patients crutches are used extensively to provide necessary forces for maintaining the upright balance and body stability. Such gait pattern is quadrupedal, because the arms with crutches are utilized as the second pair of legs. Particularly, we are interested in the gait synthesis in selected spinal cord injured subjects. where functional electrical stimulation (FES) is used for the propulsion of paralyzed lower extremities. Stability, in sense of preventing the paraplegic subject from tipping over, is a crucial problem in the faster and more efficient gait synthesis. Therefore, we defined and assessed kinematic stability index which was assessed in gait of several paraparetic subjects. The paraplegic gait consists of states that are most of the time kinematically stable. Faster gait can be achieved only if some unstable phases are included what requires a different type of control.