Comparing normal walking and compensated walking: Their stability and perturbation resistance. A simulation study

Abstract

People usually develop different kinds of compensated gait in response to local function deficits, such as muscle weakness, spasticity in specific muscle groups, or joint stiffness, in order to overcome the falling risk factors. Compensated walking has been analysed empirically in the impaired gait analysis area. However, the compensation could be identified spatially and temporally. The stability and perturbation resistance of compensated walking have not been analysed quantitatively. In this research, a biomimetic human walking simulator was employed to model one individual paraplegic subject with plantarflexor spasticity. The pes equinus was expressed by biasing the outputs of plantarflexor neurons corresponding to the spastic muscles. Then, the compensatory mechanism was explored by adjusting the outputs of the other muscles. It was shown that this approach can be used for quantitative analysis of the spastic gait and compensated walking. Thus, this research can improve the understanding of the behaviour of compensated walking, bringing insights not only for building useful walking assist systems with high safety but also for designing effective rehabilitation interventions.

Analyzing of compensated strategy in impaired walking using a humanoid robot

“…There are many simulators and robots that use other type of CPG [7,9,12,13,15,18]. For example, a phase oscillator, which is a simplified CPG models, is proposed and used in [18].…”

“…This shows that increasing the flexor output of the diseased side knee joint worked effectively as the compensatory motion and that it is a critically important element for keeping enough clearance to avoid falling down. [7]. Two markers were attached to their foot, one for heel and one for tiptoe.…”

“…Recently, research on compensatory strategies in response to specific deficits or impairments has been reported by several research groups [2][3][4][5]7]. In [2], compensatory mechanisms for muscle weakness in spinal muscular atrophy were investigated through a gait measurement experiment.…”

“…However, the modeling scheme employed only fits the measured data to a set of muscle models, not taking into consideration the internal rhythmic motion generation and the feedback pathway, which are important when interacting with the environment to maintain balance and adapt to different perturbations. Yu et al, [7] employed a bio-mimetic walking simulator, which is comprised of a set of differential equations expressing a CPG (Central Pattern Generator) and a feedback pathway for interaction with the environment, in order to analyze qualitatively the stability of compensated walking. The advantage of using a walking simulator is that signals from the nervous system, which are difficult to measure directly, can be approximated.…”

Novel medical bathing with traditional Chinese herb formula alleviates paraplegia spasticity

“…This happens frequently to people with paraplegia, a condition in which the nerves of the spinal cord have been severely damaged and no longer fully control the legs . Although the effects of spasms can be controlled or reduced with anti‐spasticity medicines, spasms are often present to some degree for the duration of the paraplegic person's life …”