Acute Effect of Robotic Therapy (G-EO System™) on the Lower Limb Temperature Distribution of a Patient with Stroke Sequelae

Abstract

Robotic therapy has been gaining prominence in poststroke rehabilitation programs. An example of these devices is the G-EO System™, which simulates gait as well as other more complexes standards of gait such as the steps on stairs. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies that apply thermography as a tool to evaluate stroke patients who undertook rehabilitation programs with the aid of robotic devices. The patient IWPS undergoes sequelae of hemorrhagic stroke for 19 months and consequently hemiplegia, had scores of 93 points in the Fugl-Meyer scale, is undertaking a physical rehabilitation program for six months, has no complaints of discomfort due to thermic sensitivity imbalances between the plegic and the contralateral sides, and voluntarily reports that he realizes functionality improvements especially, according to his perception, due to the aid of the robotic therapy in his gait training with the G-EO System™. The thermographic images were captured by an infrared sensor FLIR T650SC. By analyzing the temperature differences between both hemispheres of the body, before, immediately after, and 30 minutes after a robotic therapy for gait training, we observed that the values firstly increased immediately after the training, but after the 30-minute rest an important thermoregulation was achieved.

The Immediate Effect of Exercising in a Virtual Reality Treadmill (C-Mill) on Skin Temperature of a Man with Lower Limb Amputation

“…However, this result shows that thermography can be a useful tool for this type of functional assessment in which changes in body temperature distribution are present. A study carried out by our group has already shown that thermography could be useful for assessing stroke patients and that temperature distribution was more symmetrical soon after robot-assisted rehabilitation [20]. Another study also recently published by our group showed that the test is useful to identify patterns of temperature symmetry in a healthy individual and of asymmetry in an individual with vascular alteration, this being verified after a single session using active lower limb cycling exercises [21].…”

Therapeutic robots for post-stroke rehabilitation

“…Most randomized controlled trials have utilized exoskeleton robots, either alone or with combined end-effector devices [ 28 , 29 , 92 ], [ 93 ], [ 94 ], [ 95 ], [ 96 ], [ 97 ], [ 98 ], [ 99 ], [ 100 ]. Additionally, there have been studies involving gait robots based on the end-effector principle [ 101 , 102 ], where a vest supports the patient’s weight, and their feet are fastened to the system using two platforms to simulate gait movements [ 103 ]. Lower-limb rehabilitative robotics target the trunk, hips, knees, ankles, and feet.…”

Improving Spasticity by Using Botulin Toxin: An Overview Focusing on Combined Approaches

“…BWSTT allows for the early initiation of gait training, the integration of weight-bearing activities, stepping, and balance using both a task-specific approach and symmetrical gait arrangement [72]. Based on the severity of hemiplegia/hemiparesis, we could choose the kind of functional trial using exoskeletons (for severe hemiplegia: Lokomat [73], BLEEX [74], HAL [75], and LOPES [76]) or endeffectors (for mild to moderate motor impairment: gait-trainer, G-EOSystem, and haptic walker [57,58,[77][78][79][80][81]). Recently, a systematic review has shown that RAGT raised the recovery of independent walking in stroke patients with severe motor impairment.…”