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Background: Ankle is an important bearing joint in the human body. Unreasonable exercise patterns and exercise intensity can cause ankle injuries. This will seriously affect patients’ daily life. With the increase in the number of patients, the labor intensity of doctors is increasing. Ankle rehabilitation robot can help doctors free themselves from repetitive tasks, which is, of more practical value. Objective: To give a general summary of recent ankle rehabilitation robot and introduce the respective characteristics and development including structure type, drive type and rehabilitation training mode. Methods: This paper investigates various representative studies related to the ankle rehabilitation robot. The structure type, drive type, rehabilitation training mode and applications situation of these ankle rehabilitation robot are discussed. Results: The characteristics of different types of ankle rehabilitation robots are analyzed. This paper analyzes the main problems in its development. The solutions to the issues and the current and future research on ankle rehabilitation robot are discussed. Conclusion: The ankle rehabilitation robots are classified into motor drive type, pneumatic artificial muscle and pneumatic cylinder drive type and others. Further improvements are needed in the aspects of mechanical design, safety, virtual reality, brain-computer interface, control strategies and algorithm of bio-syncretic mechanism system of ankle rehabilitation robot. More related patents about ankle rehabilitation robot need to be developed.

This paper designs an underwater magnetic nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) based on the principle of vortex-induced vibration (VIV). The magnetic force between the permanent magnets provides the basis for the system frequency modulation. According to the positional relationship between the PEH’s vibrator and the magnet, the values of the linear stiffness coefficient and the nonlinear stiffness coefficient can be determined. According to the value of linear stiffness coefficient, the system can be divided into hard stiffness system, soft stiffness system, and negative stiffness system. The results show that the hard stiffness system’s open-circuit voltage (VRMS) increases from 9.43 V to 10.31 V, and the frequency band is widened by up to 36.8%. According to the simulation and experimental data, the hard stiffness system has a better output effect in a high flow rate. For a soft stiffness system, its initial vibration velocity decrease. When the water flow velocity is 0.2 m/s, the output voltage of the nonlinear PEH from experimental data is 10 times that of the non-magnetic PEH. Both numerical simulations and experiments prove that the soft stiffness system is more suitable for application in a low-speed water environment.

In the current prostate biopsy procedure, it is necessary for the doctor to hold the ultrasonic probe during the entire process. This increases the fatigue degree of the doctor, and the motion of the ultrasonic probe is more likely to cause damage to the anus of the patient. A medical device that can assist doctors in prostate scans and biopsy puncture devices was developed. We focused on the passive interlocking transrectal ultrasonic probe posture adjustment mechanism. Based on the posture adjustment mechanism, a passive interlocking transrectal ultrasound probe position and posture adjustment mechanism capable of assisting the doctor in prostate scanning and puncture intervention was designed. The passive interlocking posture adjustment mechanism with a seven-degree-of-freedom (DOF) interlocking mechanism was designed and can meet the requirements of doctors. The physical prototype of the passive interlocking transrectal ultrasonic probe posture adjustment mechanism was developed and commissioned. The locking torque and braking torque of the mechanism were measured. The results showed that the ultrasonic probe can achieve reliable locking and effectively meet the operation requirements.