AUTHOR=Onose Gelu , Cârdei Vladimir , Crăciunoiu Ştefan T. , Avramescu Valeriu , Opriş Ioan , Lebedev Mikhail A. , Constantinescu Marian Vladimir 

TITLE=Mechatronic Wearable Exoskeletons for Bionic Bipedal Standing and Walking: A New Synthetic Approach

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroscience

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2016.00343

DOI=10.3389/fnins.2016.00343

ISSN=1662-453X

ABSTRACT=<p>During the last few years, interest has been growing to mechatronic and robotic technologies utilized in wearable powered exoskeletons that assist standing and walking. The available literature includes single-case reports, clinical studies conducted in small groups of subjects, and several recent systematic reviews. These publications have fulfilled promotional and marketing objectives but have not yet resulted in a fully optimized, practical wearable exoskeleton. Here we evaluate the progress and future directions in this field from a joint perspective of health professionals, manufacturers, and consumers. We describe the taxonomy of existing technologies and highlight the main improvements needed for the development and functional optimization of the practical exoskeletons.</p>