RECRUITING

Improving Balance and Energetics of Walking Using a Hip Exoskeleton

Study Overview

This clinical trial focuses on testing the efficacy of different digital interventions to promote re-engagement in cancer-related long-term follow-up care for adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors of childhood cancer.

Description

Robotic lower limb exoskeletons aim to improve or augment limb functions. Automatic modulation of robotic assistance is very important because it can increase the assistive outcomes and guarantee safety when using exoskeletons. However, this automatic assistance adjustment is challenging due to person-to-person and day-to-day variations, as well as the time-varying complex human-machine-interaction forces. In recent years, human-in-the-loop optimization methods have been investigated to reduce participants' metabolic costs by providing personalized assistance from robotic exoskeletons. However, metabolic cost measure is noisy and the experimental protocol is usually relatively long. In addition, the influence of exoskeleton control on this human state in terms of energetic cost is unclear and indirect. More importantly, the optimization by reducing metabolic cost is found to affect human gait patterns and cause undesired outcomes. In this study, new evaluation measures other than metabolic cost will be investigated to optimize the assistance from a powered hip exoskeleton based on a reinforcement learning method. It is hypothesized that the new reinforcement learning-based optimal control approach will produce personalized torque assistance, reduce human volitional effort, and improve balance and other performance during walking tasks. Both participants without and with neurological disorders will be included in this study.

Official Title

Learning-based Control of a Hip Exoskeleton to Improve Balance and Energetics of Human Walking Functions

Quick Facts

Study Start:2022-06-01
Study Completion:2025-12-31
Study Type:Not specified
Phase:Not Applicable
Enrollment:Not specified
Status:RECRUITING

Study ID

NCT05447884

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Ages Eligible for Study:18 Years to 64 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study:ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:Yes
Standard Ages:ADULT
Inclusion CriteriaExclusion Criteria
  1. Age 18 years or older
  2. Willing and able to provide informed consent
  3. Able to understand and follow study procedures
  4. Stable medical condition
  1. Pregnancy or breastfeeding
  2. Severe psychiatric disorders
  3. Active substance abuse
  4. Unstable medical conditions
  5. Inability to comply with study requirements

Contacts and Locations

Study Contact

Qiang Zhang, Ph.D.
CONTACT
412-628-4758
qzhang25@ncsu.edu
Laura Rohrbaugh
CONTACT
919-513-3840
lasmith6@ncsu.edu

Study Locations (Sites)

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina, 27695
United States

Collaborators and Investigators

Sponsor: North Carolina State University

Study Record Dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Registration Dates

Study Start Date2022-06-01
Study Completion Date2025-12-31

Study Record Updates

Study Start Date2022-06-01
Study Completion Date2025-12-31

Terms related to this study

Keywords Provided by Researchers

  • Hip exoskeleton
  • Assistance personalization
  • Walking balance
  • Walking energetics
  • Reinforcement learning
  • Adaptive optimal control
  • Learning-based control
  • Gait analysis
  • Human-in-the-loop optimization
  • Human-robot-interaction

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

  • Stroke