A Survey of Wearable Lower Extremity Neurorehabilitation Exoskeleton: Sensing, Gait Dynamics, and Human–Robot Collaboration

Abstract

The lower extremity exoskeleton, which can sense the neural motion state of the human body and then provide motion assistance, is gradually replacing the traditional wheelchairs and assistive devices, making many patients with disabilities or movement disorders able to regain the walking function. This survey provides a comprehensive review on recent technological advances in lower extremity neurorehabilitation exoskeleton from the perspectives of sensing, gait dynamics, and human–robot collaboration. For each technology category, a detailed comparison among state-of-the-art solutions is provided. The results show that the exoskeleton has been greatly improved in mechanical and learning ability. However, some issues, such as adaptability, safety, and efficiency still restrict the development of exoskeleton technology. To address these problems, the remaining open challenges and future directions to improve intelligence, sensing, gait analysis, trust, efficiency, generalization, and power consumption of exoskeleton are also presented and discussed.