Effects of a hybrid ankle exoskeleton on foot drop correction for patients with stroke: A feasibility study

Foot drop is a common impairment in post-stroke patients. Hybrid exoskeleton, consisting of an exoskeleton and functional electrical stimulation (FES), assists individuals in achieving a more natural and stable gait by providing strength support and motion control. Therefore, we used a dynamic interactive hybrid ankle exoskeleton (HAE) that closely coordinates with the walking cycle and investigated its feasibility of correcting foot drop in stroke patients. For the study, 10 healthy participants and 3 stroke patients with foot drop were enrolled. All subjects performed walking experiments without or with HAE. Walking data were collected using an IMU-based gait analysis system to analyze joint angles and walking speed. The results showed that HAE significantly increased maximum hip flexion in healthy participants. Meanwhile, for patients, HAE corrected the ankle inversion and alleviated foot drop at initial contact. Our study demonstrated the feasibility and advantages of the HAE for correcting gait deficits in patients with foot drop. This finding could provide a new therapeutic approach for the rehabilitation of foot drop disorders after stroke.