A study on the cough augmentation using a belt-driven assistive.

Coughing is one of the most important mechanisms performed in human body in that it removes mucus. The absence of enough ability to remove mucus leads to accumulation of the mucus on the airway, followed by possible complications such as pneumonia and atelectasis. Patients with diseases or disorders such as spinal cord injury have weakened ability in coughing. So far, there have been various treatments such as intubation surgery, mechanical insufflation-exsufflation or manual assistance provided by paramedic. But those treatments are mainly focusing on hospitalized patients. Patients showing better abilities in breathing are rarely and sporadically cared. We found that our prior research to assist breathing of these patients could also assist cough. Also, with our mechanism, now it is available that patients can care about themselves without on by own and more frequently if they needed assistance or treatment. To assist coughing, a belt-driven assistive robot are developed and effectiveness is investigated. With three healthy subjects, general breathing and coughing ability was monitored while using the robot. The result showed about 1.59 times better inhalation and exhalation. Also 1.52 times better coughing ability was measured.