Clinical Trial

Enhancing Voluntary Motion in Broad Patient Populations With Modular Powered Orthoses Renewal

Recruiting
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Summary
The overall goal of this project is to establish a novel design and control paradigm for modular, partial-assist powered orthoses (exoskeletons) to enhance voluntary lower-limb motion and manage pain in broad patient populations. Building upon a previous study period that addressed weakness from advanced age or muscle fatigue, this current period extends the technology to novel powered unloader orthoses designed to manage knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain. The investigators hypothesize that by providing 15-30% of biological joint torque, these motorized devices can reduce muscular contributions to painful loads on the joint's surfaces during activities of daily living (ADLs). The project aims to develop a task-agnostic, neural network-based controller and establish the feasibility of reducing knee pain and muscle effort in individuals with multi-compartment knee osteoarthritis.
Trial Details
NCT Number NCT07673328
Lead Sponsor University of Michigan
Collaborators: National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Conditions Lower-limb Orthoses, Osteoarthritic Knee Pain, Osteoarthritis (OA) of the Knee
Enrollment 65 participants
Start Date 2025-07-18
Primary Completion 2030-03-30 (estimated)
Study Completion 2030-03-31 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov 2026-06-29