Figure 4

Effects of the powered ankle-foot orthosis on lower leg muscles. Average medial gastrocnemius (MG), lateral gastrocnemius (LG), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscle activations are plotted alongside passive orthosis muscle activations for the first and last minutes of powered orthosis walking for both days of training and both controllers [footswitch control (FS) = thin black line, and proportional myoelectric control (PMC) = thick gray line]. Electromyographies are normalized to the peak passive values. By the end of the second day of training, muscle activation patterns were not much different from normal (light gray dotted line). Each plot is the average of multiple subject data: 6 subjects for all footswitch control data, 5 subjects for proportional myoelectrical control MG and LG, 4 subjects for proportional myoelectrical control TA. The average standard deviation over the stride cycle for each signal and each condition is reported in each plot in units consistent with that signal.