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Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study

BACKGROUND: Robotic exoskeleton devices enable individuals with lower extremity weakness to stand up and walk over ground with full weight-bearing and reciprocal gait. Limited information is available on how a robotic exoskeleton affects gait characteristics. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Swank, Chad, Wang-Price, Sharon, Gao, Fan, Almutairi, Sattam
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682279/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31344681
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11023
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author Swank, Chad
Wang-Price, Sharon
Gao, Fan
Almutairi, Sattam
author_facet Swank, Chad
Wang-Price, Sharon
Gao, Fan
Almutairi, Sattam
author_sort Swank, Chad
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Robotic exoskeleton devices enable individuals with lower extremity weakness to stand up and walk over ground with full weight-bearing and reciprocal gait. Limited information is available on how a robotic exoskeleton affects gait characteristics. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether wearing a robotic exoskeleton affects temporospatial parameters, kinematics, and muscle activity during gait. METHODS: The study was completed by 15 healthy adults (mean age 26.2 [SD 8.3] years; 6 males, 9 females). Each participant performed walking under 2 conditions: with and without wearing a robotic exoskeleton (EKSO). A 10-camera motion analysis system synchronized with 6 force plates and a surface electromyography (EMG) system captured temporospatial and kinematic gait parameters and lower extremity muscle activity. For each condition, data for 5 walking trials were collected and included for analysis. RESULTS: Differences were observed between the 2 conditions in temporospatial gait parameters of speed, stride length, and double-limb support time. When wearing EKSO, hip and ankle range of motion (ROM) were reduced and knee ROM increased during the stance phase. However, during the swing phase, knee and ankle ROM were reduced when wearing the exoskeleton bionic suit. When wearing EKSO, EMG activity decreased bilaterally in the stance phase for all muscle groups of the lower extremities and in the swing phase for the distal muscle groups (tibialis anterior and soleus) as well as the left medial hamstrings. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing EKSO altered temporospatial gait parameters, lower extremity kinematics, and muscle activity during gait in healthy adults. EKSO appears to promote a type of gait that is disparate from normal gait in first-time users. More research is needed to determine the impact on gait training with EKSO in people with gait impairments.
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spelling pubmed-66822792019-08-19 Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study Swank, Chad Wang-Price, Sharon Gao, Fan Almutairi, Sattam JMIR Rehabil Assist Technol Original Paper BACKGROUND: Robotic exoskeleton devices enable individuals with lower extremity weakness to stand up and walk over ground with full weight-bearing and reciprocal gait. Limited information is available on how a robotic exoskeleton affects gait characteristics. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine whether wearing a robotic exoskeleton affects temporospatial parameters, kinematics, and muscle activity during gait. METHODS: The study was completed by 15 healthy adults (mean age 26.2 [SD 8.3] years; 6 males, 9 females). Each participant performed walking under 2 conditions: with and without wearing a robotic exoskeleton (EKSO). A 10-camera motion analysis system synchronized with 6 force plates and a surface electromyography (EMG) system captured temporospatial and kinematic gait parameters and lower extremity muscle activity. For each condition, data for 5 walking trials were collected and included for analysis. RESULTS: Differences were observed between the 2 conditions in temporospatial gait parameters of speed, stride length, and double-limb support time. When wearing EKSO, hip and ankle range of motion (ROM) were reduced and knee ROM increased during the stance phase. However, during the swing phase, knee and ankle ROM were reduced when wearing the exoskeleton bionic suit. When wearing EKSO, EMG activity decreased bilaterally in the stance phase for all muscle groups of the lower extremities and in the swing phase for the distal muscle groups (tibialis anterior and soleus) as well as the left medial hamstrings. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing EKSO altered temporospatial gait parameters, lower extremity kinematics, and muscle activity during gait in healthy adults. EKSO appears to promote a type of gait that is disparate from normal gait in first-time users. More research is needed to determine the impact on gait training with EKSO in people with gait impairments. JMIR Publications 2019-01-14 /pmc/articles/PMC6682279/ /pubmed/31344681 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11023 Text en ©Chad Swank, Sharon Wang-Price, Fan Gao, Sattam Almutairi. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (http://rehab.jmir.org), 14.01.2019. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://rehab.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Swank, Chad
Wang-Price, Sharon
Gao, Fan
Almutairi, Sattam
Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title_full Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title_fullStr Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title_full_unstemmed Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title_short Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study
title_sort walking with a robotic exoskeleton does not mimic natural gait: a within-subjects study
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682279/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31344681
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11023
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