Effects of partial body-weight support and functional electrical stimulation on gait characteristics during treadmill locomotion: Pros and cons of saddle-seat-type body-weight support

Abstract

Robotic therapy for rehabilitation of the lower extremity is currently in its early stage of development. Aiming at exploring an efficacious intervention for gait rehabilitation, we investigate the characteristics of an end-effector gait-training device that combines saddle-seat-type body-weight-supported treadmill training with functional electrical stimulation (FES). This is a task-oriented approach to restoring voluntary control of locomotion in patients with neuromuscular diseases. We evaluate the differences between walking with saddle-seat-type support and with harness-type support, in terms of personal preference, the preferred walking speed, profiles of kinematics and ground reaction force, and the effectiveness of FES. The results indicate that the proposed gait-training device maintains subjects in a natural posture and supports important gait functions such as hip extension and ankle push-off effectively, in particular, at slow walking speed.

Feasibility of Robot-Assisted Gait Training with an End-Effector Type Device for Various Neurologic Disorders

“…By partially unloading the body weight, the patient can put less effort into balancing while walking. BWS is conventionally provided by a harness; another type of robotic treadmill supports body weight by a bicycle saddle seat [ 12 ]. BWS enables the patient to concentrate on the leg movements and to increase their walking speed compared to walking on the ground [ 9 ].…”