Powered orthosis is a special class of gait assist device that employs a mechanical or electromechanical actuator to enhance movement of hip, knee, or ankle articulations. Pneu-matic artificial muscle (PAM) has been suggested as a pneumatic actuator because its performance is simi-lar to biological muscle.The electromyography (EMG) signal interpretation is the most popular and simplest method to establish the patient voluntary control of the orthosis.However, this technique is not suitable for patients presenting neurological lesions causing absence or very low quality of EMG signal. For those cases, an alternative control strategy should be provided.The aim of the present study is to develop a gait assistance orthosis for lower limb powered by PAMs controlled by a voluntary activation method based on the angular behavior of hip joint. In the present study, an orthosis that has been molded in a patient was employed and, by taking her anthropometric parameters and movement constraints, the adaptation of the existing orthosis to the powered orthosis was planned.A control system was devised allowing voluntary cont-rol of a powered orthosis suitable for patients presenting neurological lesions causing absence or very low quality of EMG signal.A pilot clinical study was reported where a patient, victim of poliovirus, suc-cessfully tested a hip orthosis especially modified for the gait test evaluation in the parallel bar sys-tem. The hip orthosis design and the control circuitry parameters were able to be set to provide satisfactory and comfortable use of the orthosis during the gait cycle.

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