Patent ID: 7041069

Claim:
A powered gait orthosis comprising: a treadmill for acting on the feet of a patient, said treadmill having opposite sides and being interconnected to a pair of spaced leg actuator assemblies; a drive means for driving said treadmill; the pair of leg actuator assemblies disposed adjacent to said opposite sides of said treadmill, each of said leg actuator assemblies including a support arm wherein at least one of said support arms is disposed substantially horizontally to said treadmill and is mounted for swinging movement about a generally vertical axis so as to swing outwardly away from said treadmill; a first depending arm supported by said support arm for pivotal movement about a first generally horizontal axis; a second depending arm supported by said first depending arm for pivotal movement about a second generally horizontal axis; at least two depending arm drive means for moving said first and second depending arms about the pivot axes thereof; first attachment means for attaching said first depending arm to a patient's leg just above the knee of the patient's leg; second attachment means for attaching said second depending arm to a patient's leg adjacent the ankle of the patient's leg; lifting means adapted to be secured to a lifting harness attached to a patient, said lifting means being supported by at least one guide tube and being generally vertically movable relative to said treadmill; drive means for driving said lifting means generally vertically; and control means connected to said drive means for said treadmill and said drive means for said first and second depending arms to direct the drive means connected thereto to operate in a coordinated manner to cause the legs of a patient to move in a desired gait.