Orthotics, prosthetics and exoskeletons
Within Mobilab & Care, we conduct research on orthotics (devices that support the body such as braces), exoskeletons (motorized or non-motorized body support devices) and prosthetics (devices that replaces body parts – we focus here on exo-prosthetics, prosthetic components that replace entire body parts such as the lower leg).

We seek to increase evidence-based practice on the design and manufacturing of these devices and do this by:
- Evaluating the biomechanical performance of existing devices using, among other things, motion analyses and motion simulations
- Mapping the mechanical properties of such devices using mechanical simulations (such as finite element simulations) and mechanical test devices such as a test rig for ankle-foot orthoses, a robotic gait simulator, …
- Combining the above two points with each other. By doing so, we optimize the interaction between the person wearing or using the device and the device itself
- Enable new developments by using e.g. additive manufacturing (the more precise name of 3D printing) in developing the devices or developing new prototypes such as, for example, an ankle exoskeleton (actuated ankle-foot orthosis) or an elbow exoskeleton.

What can we do for you?
Do you want to test your devices?
Do you want to use our gait lab? Have tests set up by us?
Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Infrastructure

Robotic gait simulator

Shimmer sensors

Byteflies sensor dot

Captiv

Force plates

EMG (Delsys)

Pressure plate (RSscan)

Diers formetric 4D

Codamotion

Vialux

4 Quintic High speed camera’s

Pedar in shoe plantair measurement (Novel)

Two Hebi series elastic actuators which we use in exoskeleton applications

Dynamic AFO-testrig for cyclic testing of ankle-foot-orthoses

Taurus test bed with apptronik series elastic actuator with impedance controller

Publications
T. Saey, L. Muraru, E. D. Raeve, K. Cuppens, R. Balcaen and V. Creylman, “Evaluation of the influence of cyclic loading on a laser sintered transtibial prosthetic socket using Digital Image Correlation (DIC),” 2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBC), 2019, pp. 5382-5385, doi: 10.1109/EMBC.2019.8856544.