title: Effects on normal gait of a new active knee orthosis for hemiparetic gait retraining.
abstract: Functional recovery of an impaired gait pattern is a common goal for stroke patients in their rehabilitation. Robotic and mechatronic devices offer a means of facilitating and enhancing gait retraining practices undertaken by clinicians. A new active knee orthosis has been developed for gait retraining of stroke patients that may fulfil this role. Since this device is newly developed, it is important to determine its impact on the walking patterns of healthy individuals before exploring its use in gait retraining of stroke patients. The aim of this study was to analyze adaptations in gait mechanics of healthy subjects due to the added mass of the knee orthosis while worn uni-laterally and bi-laterally. In our preliminary tests we observed significant deviations from normal gait patterns when the knee orthosis was worn uni-laterally. Conversely, minor gait deviations were seen when the knee orthosis was worn bi-laterally. This suggests that a bilateral configuration may be more suited for gait retraining purposes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA. spatel19@partners.org
authors.forename: Shyamal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Benjamin L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Patritti
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nikitczuk
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Della Croce
authors.forename: Constantinos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mavroidis
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bonato
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005684:Gait; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D010291:Paresis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome