*** Compensating the Symptomatic Increase in Plantarflexion Torque and Mechanical Work for Dorsiflexion in Patients with Spastic Paresis Using the “Hermes” Ankle–Foot Orthosis ***

Authors: Karen E. Rodriguez Hernandez, Eveline R.M. Grootendorst-Heemskerk

TU Delft, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Biomechanical Engineering, Biomechatronics & Human-Machine Control. 
Leiden University Medical Centre, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. 

Corresponding author: Karen E. Rodriguez Hernandez, Winfred Mugge

Contact Information:
k.e.rodriguezhernandez@tudelft.nl
w.mugge@tudelft.nl

Delft University of Technology - Faculty of Aerospace Engineering
P.O. Box 5058
2600 GB Delft
The Netherlands




***Introductory information***

This dataset contains data collected at Leiden University Medical Centre, as part of Karen E. Rodriguez Hernandez PhD Thesis project

It is being made public both to act as supplementary data for a publication and the PhD
thesis of Karen E. Rodriguez Hernandez and in order for other researchers to use this data in their own
work.

The data in this data set was collected in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, between January 2022
and December 2023. 

This research was funded by Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen (STW) and currently known as NWO-TTW Grant 14904STW – Stiffness as Needed and 
Health~Holland (LSHM 21005 – Precision Orthotics).





***Methodological information***

The purpose of these experiments was to assess the effectiveness of the Hermes AFO in immediately compensating ankle stiffness of 12 chronic stroke patients.
The Hermes AFO effectiveness was assessed by comparing both the PF torques (i.e., the ankle torque resistance to DF) and positive work (i.e., the positive area under the torque-angle characteristic)
in 3 conditions, namely without Hermes (A condition), and with Hermes adjusted to either apply no compensation (A+H0% condition) or 
to compensate 100% of the patient-specific PF torque (A+H100% condition).
The patient-specific PF torque corresponds to that measured in the A condition.

The data file "Torque_Angle_chr.mat" contains the measured torque-angle characteristics in the 3 conditions 
from which the The assessed PF torque and positive work were derived.

The function "AUC_calculation_trapzPosiT2.m" uses the data "Torque_Angle_chr.mat" to calculate the PF torque and positive work for the 3 conditions in all patients.

The torque-angle characteristics were measured with a robotic ankle manipulator (“Achilles,” MOOG Inc., Nieuw Vennep, the Netherlands) 
The patient’s foot was attached to the rotational plate of the ankle manipulator using Velcro straps in the condition without Hermes or 
via the Hermes foot part in the conditions with Hermes.

The angles of the torque-angle characteristics correspond ankle’s passive ROM (pROM), which was measured while the ankle manipulator applied 15 Nm in DF and 7.5 Nm in PF onto the patient’s ankle.
Subsequently, the torques of the torque-angle characteristics were measured across the pROM while the ankle manipulator applied DF and PF movements,
respectively, spanning from the maximum PF angle to the maximum DF angle of the pROM and vice versa. 
The DF and PF movements followed a ramp-and-hold (RaH) shape with a ramp velocity of 5.0 deg·s−1, with randomly timed onset and hold periods




***Description of the data in this data set***

"Torque_Angle_chr.mat" contains a data structure with the following fields:
angle - angle during DF movement
torque- torque measured during DF movement
angle_end - angle during PF movement
torque_end- torque measured during PF movement
angleA - average angle across the DF and PF movements
torqueA - average torque across the DF and PF movements
condition - wherein: Achilles_NoHermes = A condition; Achilles_HermesL0 = A+H0% condition; Achilles_HermesLmax= A+H100% condition.
initial_ptn - patient conde with the number of the patient in the last digit, e.g., "PP002" corresponds to patient 2.

the function "AUC_calculation_trapzPosiT2.m" has as output an structure with two fields. "posiT" corresponding to the positive work and "T" corresponding to the PF torques.

"posiT" field contains the positive work of three curves for all patients: "df" during DF movement, "pf" during PF movement, and "mean" - average work across the DF and PF movements.
conditions are noted by : NHe = A condition; L0 = A+H0% condition; Lmax= A+H100% condition.

"T" field is similar to "posiT" however, the data is arranges in a 12x3 matrix in which 1:12 corresponds to the patients and 1:3 to the angles in
which the torque was evaluated, namely at 0 deg., 10 deg. DF, and at the maximum DF angle of each condition.