Development towards a real-time gastrocnemius tendon junction tracking system using ultrasound

Harvard University, BioDesign Lab, 2017-2018

Soft robotic exosuits provide increased mobility to healthy and physically impaired individuals through gait assistance. To provide individualized biomechanical assistance, the exosuit must work in parallel with the specific movement of each user. This project aims to develop an algorithm that can be used for real-time feedback by using ultrasound to track the Gastrocnemius Tendon Junction location to determine the onset of gastrocnemius concentric contraction in the push-off phase of gait. This algorithm is being created as a research tool to investigate real time feedback while creating ground work into designing a lightweight and portable wearable using single element transducers to provide real time information for soft exosuit assistance. Additionally, device design requirements were created for a custom ultrasound system, and the algorithm was tested against different walking and running conditions at various inclines.