Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy

Objective: To determine the effects of providing battery-powered ankle dorsiflexor and plantar flexor exoskeleton assistance on six-minute walk test performance and efficiency in children and young adults with cerebral palsy by comparing distance walked under exoskeleton assisted (Assisted) and no d...

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Main Authors: Benjamin Conner, Greg Orekhov, Zachary Lerner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2021-01-01
Series:IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9652114/
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author Benjamin Conner
Greg Orekhov
Zachary Lerner
author_facet Benjamin Conner
Greg Orekhov
Zachary Lerner
author_sort Benjamin Conner
collection DOAJ
description Objective: To determine the effects of providing battery-powered ankle dorsiflexor and plantar flexor exoskeleton assistance on six-minute walk test performance and efficiency in children and young adults with cerebral palsy by comparing distance walked under exoskeleton assisted (Assisted) and no device (Shod) walking conditions, and explore the acclimation rate to maximal walking with ankle exoskeleton assistance. Results: Six-minute walk test performance significantly improved under the final Assisted condition test compared to the Shod condition (42 ± 27 m, p = 0.02), surpassing the minimum clinically important difference range for children and young adults with CP. There was no difference in walking efficiency (-0.06 ± 0.1, p = 0.3). Participants had an average acclimation rate of 19.6 m per session. Conclusions: Powered ankle assistance can significantly improve six-minute walk test performance in individuals with mild-to-moderate gait impairment from CP, supporting the use of this intervention to improve functional mobility and walking capacity in this patient population.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2644-1276
language English
publishDate 2021-01-01
publisher IEEE
record_format Article
series IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
spelling doaj-art-d676de86915e45b28fc3088348b325e72025-08-20T03:32:47ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology2644-12762021-01-01232032310.1109/OJEMB.2021.31358269652114Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral PalsyBenjamin Conner0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9567-9989Greg Orekhov1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9998-0568Zachary Lerner2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7359-436XCollege of Medicine–Phoenix, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USACollege of Medicine–Phoenix, University of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ, USAObjective: To determine the effects of providing battery-powered ankle dorsiflexor and plantar flexor exoskeleton assistance on six-minute walk test performance and efficiency in children and young adults with cerebral palsy by comparing distance walked under exoskeleton assisted (Assisted) and no device (Shod) walking conditions, and explore the acclimation rate to maximal walking with ankle exoskeleton assistance. Results: Six-minute walk test performance significantly improved under the final Assisted condition test compared to the Shod condition (42 ± 27 m, p = 0.02), surpassing the minimum clinically important difference range for children and young adults with CP. There was no difference in walking efficiency (-0.06 ± 0.1, p = 0.3). Participants had an average acclimation rate of 19.6 m per session. Conclusions: Powered ankle assistance can significantly improve six-minute walk test performance in individuals with mild-to-moderate gait impairment from CP, supporting the use of this intervention to improve functional mobility and walking capacity in this patient population.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9652114/Ankle assistancecerebral palsyexoskeletonsix-minute walk test
spellingShingle Benjamin Conner
Greg Orekhov
Zachary Lerner
Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
IEEE Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology
Ankle assistance
cerebral palsy
exoskeleton
six-minute walk test
title Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
title_full Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
title_fullStr Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
title_full_unstemmed Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
title_short Ankle Exoskeleton Assistance Increases Six-Minute Walk Test Performance in Cerebral Palsy
title_sort ankle exoskeleton assistance increases six minute walk test performance in cerebral palsy
topic Ankle assistance
cerebral palsy
exoskeleton
six-minute walk test
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9652114/
work_keys_str_mv AT benjaminconner ankleexoskeletonassistanceincreasessixminutewalktestperformanceincerebralpalsy
AT gregorekhov ankleexoskeletonassistanceincreasessixminutewalktestperformanceincerebralpalsy
AT zacharylerner ankleexoskeletonassistanceincreasessixminutewalktestperformanceincerebralpalsy