Active ankle foot orthosis

A variable-impedance active ankle foot orthosis, comprising:

• a) an actuator that includes a spring, wherein the actuator is configured to support a human ankle joint;
• b) at least one of an ankle angle sensor and ground reaction force sensor;
• and
• c) a computer controller linked to the actuator and the sensor, the actuator configured to receive sensory information from the at least one sensor and to modulate impedance, including a joint stiffness or damping of an ankle joint, by controlling compression of the spring in response to the sensory information comprising at least one of an ankle angle and a ground reaction force, the actuator modulating the joint stiffness or damping of the ankle joint by controlling the spring in an updating manner from step-to-step of a walk cycle in response to the at least one of ankle angle and ground reaction force.

A variable impedance active ankle foot orthosis comprising:

• a) an actuator configured to support a human ankle joint;
• b) at least one of a ground reaction force sensor and an ankle angle sensor;
• and
• c) a computer controller linked to the actuator and to the sensor,
• wherein the orthosis is configured to receive sensory information from the at least one sensor and configured to modulate, by computer-controlled actuation, ankle joint impedance, including a joint stiffness or damping of an ankle joint, wherein modulation of the joint impedance is adaptive in nature.

A device for treating an ankle foot gait pathology comprising:

• an orthosis including an orthosis leg portion configured to be attachable to a leg of a person and an orthosis foot portion configured to be attachable to a foot of the person;
• and
• an actuator configured to act on a spring;
• at least one of an ankle angle sensor and a ground reaction force sensor;
• and
• a computer controller linked to the actuator and the sensor, the computer controller configured to receive sensory information from the at least one sensor and configured to modulate by computer-controlled actuation, impedance, including joint stiffness or damping of the ankle joint, wherein modulation of joint impedance is adaptive in nature.

A variable impedance active ankle foot orthosis comprising:

• a) an actuator and a spring operatively linked to the actuator
• b) an ankle angle sensor;
• c) a ground force reaction sensor;
• and
• d) a controller linked to the sensors and to the actuator, wherein the actuator is configured to receive sensory information from the at least two sensors and configured to modulate, by computer-controlled actuation, impedance, including a joint stiffness or damping of an ankle joint, by controlling compression of the spring, in response to the two sensors during walking, the actuator modulating the joint stiffness or damping of the ankle joint, wherein modulation of joint impedance is adaptive in nature.