Walking Faster and Farther With a Soft Robotic Exosuit: Implications for Post-Stroke Gait Assistance and Rehabilitation
<italic>Objective:</italic> Soft robotic exosuits can improve the mechanics and energetics of walking after stroke. Building on this prior work, we evaluated the effects of the first prototype of a portable soft robotic exosuit. <italic>Methods:</italic> Exosuit-induced chang...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IEEE
2020-01-01
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| Series: | IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9054932/ |
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| Summary: | <italic>Objective:</italic> Soft robotic exosuits can improve the mechanics and energetics of walking after stroke. Building on this prior work, we evaluated the effects of the first prototype of a portable soft robotic exosuit. <italic>Methods:</italic> Exosuit-induced changes in the overground walking speed, distance, and energy expenditure of individuals post-stroke were evaluated statistically and compared to minimal clinically important difference scores. <italic>Results:</italic> Compared to walking without the exosuit worn, the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$< $</tex-math></inline-formula>5 kg exosuit did not substantially modify speed, distance, or energy expenditure when worn unpowered. In contrast, when powered on to provide an average 22.87 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math></inline-formula> 0.58 %bodyweight of paretic plantarflexor force assistance during stance phase and assist the paretic dorsiflexors during swing phase to reduce drop-foot, study participants walked a median 0.14 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math></inline-formula> 0.06 m/s faster during the 10-meter walk test and traveled 32 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pm$</tex-math></inline-formula> 8 m farther during the six minute walk test (<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$P < 0.05$</tex-math></inline-formula>). <italic>Conclusions:</italic> Individuals post-stroke can leverage the paretic plantarflexor and dorsiflexor assistance provided by soft robotic exosuits to achieve clinically-meaningful increases in speed and distance. |
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| ISSN: | 2644-1276 |