Effects of Walkbot gait training on kinematics, kinetics, and clinical gait function in paraplegia and quadriplegia

Abstract

These findings suggest that the Walkbot RAGT was effective for improving knee and hip kinematics and the active knee joint moment while decreasing hip resistive force. This is the first clinical evidence for intensive, long-term effects of the Walkbot RAGT on active or resistive moments and stiffness associated with spasticity and functional mobility in individuals with subacute or chronic paraplegia or quadriplegia who had reached a plateau in motor recovery after conventional therapy.

Impact of WALKBOT on the Gait and Balance Recovery of Patients with Acute Neurologic Disorders

“…In addition, RAGT intensity and gait parameters (e.g., stride length, gait velocity, and gait frequency) can be adjusted with WALKBOT in accordance with the patient's requirements. Partial support for the patient's weight makes WALKBOT safer than traditional physical therapy [1,11,21]. Traditional gait therapy allows 50-100 steps to be practiced each hour for wheelchair-dependent patients, whereas RAGT allows 1000-2000 steps to be practiced in 30 min [14].…”

“…We included patients with onset ≤ 2 months, Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) < 3, American Spinal Cord Injury Association grade C or D for SCI patients, and a score ≥ 24 on the Korean version of the Mini-Mental Status Examination. We excluded patients with American Spinal Cord Injury Association grade A or B, Modified Ashworth's Scale score > 2, uncontrolled diabetes (and corresponding guidance to avoid exercise), obesity (weight > 135 kg), or height < 150 cm [1].…”

“…Spinal cord injury (SCI) or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) may cause hemiplegia, paraplegia, or limb paralysis, as well as abnormal balance and gait [1].…”

“…The robot's joints have axes similar to the axes of human legs; this allows natural walking movements on all leg joints, as well as exercises involving individual joint muscles. The use of WALKBOT improves gait in paralyzed patients and has the advantage of individualizing therapy for patients based on their physical characteristics [1,3].…”

Deep-Learning-Based Emergency Stop Prediction for Robotic Lower-Limb Rehabilitation Training Systems

“…This technology can provide accurate proprioceptive, kinematic, and kinetic guidance, as well as variable error practice, high-intensity, and repetitive taskspecific and interactive exercises for paretic lower-limbs [3,4]. Based on these benefits, exoskeleton-type robotic lower-limb rehabilitation systems are used in medical fields [3,[5][6][7][8] B. Cha is with the school of Integrated Technology, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Buk-gu, Gwangju 61005, Republic of Korea (e-mail: orientpine@gmail.com).…”