Towards an ankle-foot orthosis powered by a dielectric elastomer actuator

Foot drop is the inability to dorsiflex ankle (raise toes) due neuromuscular impairment, and this common condition can cause trips falls. Current treatments for chronic foot provide dorsiflexion support, but they either impede push off or are not suitable all patients. Powered ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) counteract without these drawbacks, heavy bulky have short battery life. To drawbacks of current powered AFO, we designed built an AFO by dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), a type artificial muscle technology. This paper presents our design results benchtop testing. We found that DEA 49 % support necessary raise foot. Further, charging DEAs reduced effort would be required plantarflexion compared with passive behavior, operation could 7000 steps more in actual operation. promising approach building counteracts impeding plantarflexion, may prove useful other prosthesis designs.