Evaluation of the Gait of Elderly People Using an Assisting Cart. Gait on Flat Surface.

Abstract

The development of machines for assisting the elderly society during walking is becoming increasingly important these days. Some assisting machines of a cart type have been developed. However, it has not been clarified how the machines an effect the generated muscle tensions and energy consumption of human users. In this study, we have evaluated human walk using a cart developed for this research. We have estimated the energy consumption based on the musculo-skeletal model. It is shown that the energy consumption using the cart decreased by 15% from that of the normal gait. Our evaluation method will be useful for developing practical assisting machines for walking.