Effects of Robot-Virtual Reality Compared with Robot Alone Training on Gait Kinetics of Individuals Post Stroke

With no discussion of getting to the only goal in stroke,  100% RECOVERY. This is useless.

Effects of Robot-Virtual Reality Compared with Robot Alone Training on Gait Kinetics of Individuals Post Stroke

  Anat Mirelman, Benjamin L. Patritti , Paolo Bonato,
Senior Member,IEE  E
, and Judith E. Deutsch

Abstract

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Virtual reality systems have been used to deliver goal directed repetitive training to promote rehabilitation of individuals post-stroke. Lower extremity training of individuals post-stroke who used a robot coupled with virtual environments was shown to transfer to improved over-ground locomotion. To elucidate an underlying mechanism that enabled this functional change we compared the kinetic outcomes of training with the robot-virtual reality (VR) system to the robot alone. Eighteen individuals post-stroke participated in a four-week training protocol. One group trained with the robot-VR system and the other group with the robot alone. Training parameters were comparable for the two groups; however, the improvements in moments and powers generated in the ankle and hip of subjects in the robot- VR group were significantly greater than those in the robot alone group. These findings demonstrate that lower extremity training using virtual environments coupled with a robot produced greater (greater is not good enough, 100% recovery is the goal. DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?)gait related strength gains than training with robot alone.