Article

Efficacy studies concerning robot assisted gait rehabilitation showed
limited clinical benefits. A changed kinematic pattern might be responsible for
this. Little is known about the kinematics of the trunk and pelvis during robot
assisted treadmill walking (RATW). The aim of this study was to assess
the trunk and pelvis kinematics of healthy subjects during RATW, with different
amounts of body weight support (BWS) compared to regular treadmill walking (TW).
METHOD: Eighteen healthy participants walked on a treadmill, while kinematics
were registered by an electromagnetic tracking device. Hereafter, the kinematics
of pelvis and trunk were registered during RATW (guidance force 30%) with 0%, 30%
and 50% BWS. RESULTS: Compared to TW, RATW showed a decrease in the following
trunk movements: axial rotation, anteroposterior flexion, lateral and
anteroposterior translation. Besides, a decrease in lateral tilting and all
translation of the pelvis was found when comparing RATW with TW. Furthermore, the
anteroposterior tilting of the pelvis increased during RATW. CONCLUSION: In
general, there was a decrease in trunk and pelvis movement amplitude during RATW
compared with regular TW. Though, it is not known if these changes are
responsible for the limited efficacy of robot assisted gait rehabilitation.
Further research is indicated.

Langue : ANGLAIS