Subject-Specific Predictive Musculoskeletal Simulations of Lower-Limb Exoskeleton Assistance: Metabolic and Biomechanical Effects of Joint Assistance Strategies
This study addresses the challenge of designing optimal assistance strategies for lower-limb exoskeletons given inter-individual variability. By constructing personalized musculoskeletal models based on BMI scaling, we employed OpenSim predictive simulations with ideal actuator modeling to systematically evaluate the metabolic and biomechanical effects of different joint combinations under 25 Nm and 50 Nm torque conditions. The research quantified the differential impacts of multi-joint synergistic assistance on gait and energy expenditure. Results demonstrate that combined hip-ankle assistance constitutes the optimal dual-actuator configuration, while full-joint assistance at 50 Nm reduces metabolic cost by up to 48.5%. These findings provide a critical theoretical foundation for the design of personalized control strategies in exoskeleton applications.