Kazuto Kora

Kazuto Kora received his B.E. in Mechatronics Engineering in 2013 and his M.E. in Mechanical Engineering 2015, both from the University of Auckland. Currently, he is undertaking a PhD in Mechatronics Engineering in the field of medical devices under the supervision of Dr. Andrew McDaid and A.Prof. James Stinear.

Kazuto’s current research is focused on the development of a robotic gait rehabilitation device. There have been numerous prototypes and commercial products developed for robot-assisted rehabilitation of gait, but many of these have limitations; one of which is being bulky and complex to handle. Large and expensive devices that require special training to operate, are less attractive to clinics and therapists, and ultimately less available to the patients, especially at the early stage of stroke. Kazuto’s research proposes a new device, based on an overground walking frame (walker) design with an attached mechanism to guide the foot movement. The mechanism utilises a four-bar linkage system to generate a normative gait trajectory. Walkers are already in use in gait rehabilitation thus require very little training for the therapist, and it can be deployed in large numbers as it would be easy to use and affordable. The research focuses on the design and optimisation of the four-bar linkage system that will be suitable for wide range patients, the development a of prototype with a powered actuation mechanism, and evaluation of the effectiveness.

Contact: kkor008@aucklanduni.ac.nz

Selected Publications

K. Kora, S. Ward, and A. McDaid, “Assessing the effect of walking with a linkage-based gait trainer by analysing muscle activation,” in 2018 IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications (MeMeA), 2018.

K. Kora, J. Stinear, and A. McDaid, “Design, analysis, and optimization of an acute stroke gait rehabilitation device,” Journal of Medical Devices, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 014503–014503–6, Dec. 2016. [Online]. Available: http://­dx.doi.org/­10.1115/­1.4035127