Two things wrong with this research:
- They are about 'improvement' NOT recovery. This tyranny of low expectations needs to stop.
- They didn't compare this to all the other exoskeletons out there. So followup needs to be done and will never occur.
Or
Or
Or
Or
The latest here:
Effects of Exoskeleton Gait Training on Balance, Load Distribution, and Functional Status in Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Anna Rojek
Anna Mika
Łukasz Oleksy
Artur Stolarczyk
Renata Kielnar- 1Physiotherapy Clinic RehaPlus, Kraków, Poland
- 2Department of Clinical Rehabilitation, University of Physical Education in Krakow, Kraków, Poland
- 3Physiotherapy and Sports Centre, Rzeszow University of Technology, Rzeszow, Poland
- 4Oleksy Medical & Sports Sciences, Łańcut, Poland
- 5Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Department, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- 6Medical College of Rzeszow University, Rzeszow, Poland
Background: As a result of stroke,
patients have problems with locomotion and transfers, which lead to
frequent falls. Recovery after stroke is a major goal of rehabilitation,
but it is difficult to choose which treatment method is most beneficial
for stroke survivors. Recently, powered robotic exoskeletons are used
in treatment to maximize the neural recovery of patients after stroke,
but there are no studies evaluating the changes in balance among
patients rehabilitated with an exoskeleton.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to
evaluate the effects of Ekso GT exoskeleton-assisted gait training on
balance, load distribution, and functional status of patients after
ischemic stroke.
Methods: The outcomes are based on 44
patients aged 55–85 years after ischemic stroke who were previously
randomly assigned into two groups: experimental (with Ekso GT
rehabilitation) and control (with classical rehabilitation). At baseline
and after 4 weeks of treatment, the patients were evaluated on balance,
load distribution, and functional status using, respectively a
stabilometric platform, the Barthel Index, and the Rivermead Mobility
Index.
Results: In the experimental group,
balance improved regarding the variables describing sway area as ellipse
major and minor axes. In the control group, improvement was noted in
sway velocity. After the therapy, total load distribution on feet in
both groups showed a small and insignificant tendency toward reduction
in the amount of uninvolved limb loading. In the control group,
significant load transfer from the backfoot to the forefoot was noted.
Both forms of rehabilitation caused significant changes in functional
status.
Conclusions: Both training with the use
of the Ekso GT exoskeleton and classical physiotherapy lead to
functional improvement of patients after ischemic stroke. However, in
the experimental group, improvement was observed in a larger number of
categories, which may suggest potentially greater impact of treatment
with the exoskeleton on functional status. Also, both forms of
rehabilitation caused significant changes in balance, but we have noted
some trends indicating that treatment with exoskeleton may be more
beneficial for some patients. The load transfer from the backfoot to the
forefoot observed in the control group was an unfavorable phenomenon.
We suggest that the Ekso GT exoskeleton may be a promising tool in the
rehabilitation of patients after stroke.
Trial registration: Trial ID ACTRN12616000148471
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