Towards Applying Pneumatic Gel Muscles to Augment Plantar Flexor Muscle Stretching for Children with Cerebral Palsy

Many children in the world suffer from cerebral palsy (CP), which is the leading cause of children's disabilities, affecting their body movement and muscle coordination [18]. At present, the rehabilitation training of children with cerebral palsy has long relied on the physical therapist (PT) workforce. Our research wants to empower parents of children suffering from cerebral palsy to engage in simple training exercises themselves, supporting the rehabilitation process. We collaborate with physical therapists of a children's hospital to design a system that uses pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) to help children with cerebral palsy train their plantar flexor muscles (Figure 1). We present an initial experimental prototype validated with physical therapists and doctors. We also show a feasibility test with patients with informed consent from parents and monitored by the physical therapists.