Shuo-Hsiu Chang1,2, Fangshi Zhu1,3, Neel Patel2,4, Taimoor Afzal1,2, Marcie Kern1,2, Gerard E Francisco1,2. 1. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 2. Center for Wearable Exoskeletons, NeuroRecovery Research Center, TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston, Texas, USA. 3. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. 4. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
Abstract
Context: To investigate the feasibility of combining the lower-limb exoskeleton and body weight unweighing technology for assisted walking in tetraplegia following spinal cord injury (SCI).Findings: A 66-year-old participant with a complete SCI at the C7 level, graded on the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) as AIS A, participated in nine sessions of overground walking with the assistance from exoskeleton and body weight unweighing system. The participant could tolerate the intensity and ambulate with exoskeleton assistance for a short distance with acceptable and appropriate gait kinematics after training. Conclusion: This report showed that using technology can assist non-ambulatory individuals following SCI to stand and ambulate with assistance which may promote general physical and psychological health if used in the long term.
Context: To investigate the feasibility of combining the lower-limb exoskeleton and body weight unweighing technology for assisted walking in tetraplegia following spinal cord injury (SCI).Findings: A 66-year-old participant with a complete SCI at the C7 level, graded on the American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (AIS) as AIS A, participated in nine sessions of overground walking with the assistance from exoskeleton and body weight unweighing system. The participant could tolerate the intensity and ambulate with exoskeleton assistance for a short distance with acceptable and appropriate gait kinematics after training. Conclusion: This report showed that using technology can assist non-ambulatory individuals following SCI to stand and ambulate with assistance which may promote general physical and psychological health if used in the long term.
Authors: Clare Hartigan; Casey Kandilakis; Skyler Dalley; Mike Clausen; Edgar Wilson; Scott Morrison; Steven Etheridge; Ryan Farris Journal: Top Spinal Cord Inj Rehabil Date: 2015-04-12
Authors: Matthias Sczesny-Kaiser; Oliver Höffken; Mirko Aach; Oliver Cruciger; Dennis Grasmücke; Renate Meindl; Thomas A Schildhauer; Peter Schwenkreis; Martin Tegenthoff Journal: J Neuroeng Rehabil Date: 2015-08-20 Impact factor: 4.262