An Expert System for supporting the conceptual design of controllers for lower limbs rehabilitation systems

In this paper, an Expert System (ES) for supporting the conceptual design of a closed loop control scheme for the rehabilitation of lower limb disabilities is presented. The design of the controllers is based on the exploitation of experts knowledge concerning the gait cycle and uses pathological muscles electromyographical (EMG) data for feedback signals. EMGs from normal muscles are also used to detect the gait phases and an expert system for supporting the selection of the suitable set of muscles is developed. The acquired knowledge concerning the gait phases and the muscles EMGs is presented. Finally, a case study of designing a controller for the correction of the drop foot syndrome is presented.