Exoskeleton Knee Extension Assist Suspension Brace for Reducing Joint Pain in Elderly Aged Population

Knee joint is a complex joint which plays an important role in day-to-day life activities. A person with a healthy knee can able to walk freely without any pain in the knee joint but factors like ageing, osteoarthritis can damage the meniscus, articular cartilage and can cause increased compression between the bone which results in knee pain. This compression between the bones can be reduced by extending the knee joint which can provide pain relief. In this proposed method, an exoskeleton knee extension system for transferring the whole-body weight to shoe and an actuating mechanism is designed to extend the knee joint. NodeMCU ESP8266 controller is used to receive feedback from the load cell to drive the motor which provides extension. Only a prototype of extension device is proposed. The necessary extension has been achieved with this prototype and it lifted up to 17 kg. The placements of cuff in the thigh and shank region provided proper grip such that the upper body weight is transferred to the shoe. This is a prototype model and it can be further developed into a clinical device and the extension in the knee joint can be tested by proper clinical trials in future.