Effects of interval treadmill training on spatiotemporal parameters in children with cerebral palsy: A machine learning approach.

Journal: Journal of biomechanics
PMID: 39522477

Abstract

Quantifying individualized rehabilitation responses and optimizing therapy for each person is challenging. For interventions like treadmill training, there are multiple parameters, such as speed or incline, that can be adjusted throughout sessions. This study evaluates if causal modeling and Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) can be used to accurately track the direct effects of treadmill training on gait. We developed a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) to specify the assumed relationship between training input parameters and spatiotemporal outcomes during Short Burst Locomotor Treadmill Training (SBLTT), a therapy designed specifically for children with cerebral palsy (CP). We evaluated outcomes after 24 sessions of SBLTT for simulated datasets of 150 virtual participants and experimental data from four children with CP, ages 4-13 years old. Individual BART models were created from treadmill data of each step. Simulated datasets demonstrated that BART could accurately identify specified responses to training, including strong correlations for step length progression (R = 0.73) and plateaus (R = 0.87). Model fit was stronger for participants with less step-to-step variability but did not impact model accuracy. For experimental data, participants' step lengths increased by 26 ± 13% after 24 sessions. Using BART to control for speed or incline, we found that step length increased for three participants (direct effect: 13.5 ± 4.5%), while one participant decreased step length (-11.6%). SBLTT had minimal effects on step length asymmetry and step width. Tools such as BART can leverage step-by-step data collected during training for researchers and clinicians to monitor progression, optimize rehabilitation protocols, and inform the causal mechanisms driving individual responses.

Authors

  • Charlotte R DeVol
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: cdcaskey@uw.edu.
  • Siddhi R Shrivastav
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: siddhis@uw.edu.
  • Alyssa M Spomer
    Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul, MN, USA. Electronic address: AlyssaMSpomer@gillettechildrens.com.
  • Kristie F Bjornson
    Rehabilitation Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: kristie.bjornson@seattlechildrens.org.
  • Desiree Roge
    Rehabilitation Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: Desiree.Roge@seattlechildrens.org.
  • Chet T Moritz
    Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Neurobiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. Electronic address: ctmoritz@uw.edu.
  • Katherine M Steele
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, 2350 Hayward St, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.

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