Training to walk amid uncertainty with Re-Step: measurements and changes with perturbation training for hemiparesis and cerebral palsy

Your doctor will be able to contrast and compare this new one to  these previous ones
1. Unstable Shoes Increase Energy Expenditure of Obese Patients
2. Compelled BodyWeight Shift Technique to Facilitate Rehabilitation of Individuals with Acute Stroke
3. Documenting abnormal anticipatory control prior to gait initiation in sub-acute stroke
4.  spnKiX motorized shoes edge closer to production
5. Motivation through Inclusion of Failure in Stroke Rehabilitation


So have a person walk beside you and at random intervals give you a shove. Or your dog or child. But only under your doctors supervision.
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17483107.2012.754954

Abstract

Purpose: To describe Re-Step™, a novel mechatronic shoe system that measures center of pressure (COP) gait parameters and complexity of COP dispersion while walking, and to demonstrate these measurements in healthy controls and individuals with hemiparesis and cerebral palsy (CP) before and after perturbation training. Method: The Re-Step™ was used to induce programmed chaotic perturbations to the feet while walking for 30 min for 36 sessions over 12-weeks of training in two subjects with hemiparesis and two with CP. Results: Baseline measurements of complexity indices (fractal dimension and approximate entropy) tended to be higher in controls than in those with disabilities, while COP variability, mean and variability of step time and COP dispersion were lower. After training the disabled subjects these measurement values tended toward those of the controls, along with a decrease in step time, 10 m walk time, average step time, percentage of double support and increased Berg balance score. Conclusions: This pilot trial reveals the feasibility and applicability of this unique measurement and perturbation system for evaluating functional disabilities and changes with interventions to improve walking.Implication for Rehabilitation

• Walking, of individuals with cerebral palsy and hemiparesis following stroke, can be viewed in terms of a rigid motor behavior that prevents adaptation to changing environmental conditions.
• Re-Step system (a) measures and records linear and non-linear gait parameters during free walking to provide a detailed evaluation of walking disabilities, (b) is an intervention training modality that applies unexpected perturbations during walking.
• This perturbation intervention may improve gait and motor functions of individuals with hemiparesis and cerebral palsy.

Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17483107.2012.754954