Robotic body weight support enables safe stair negotiation in compliance with basic locomotor principles.
Journal:
Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation
PMID:
31870393
Abstract
BACKGROUND: After a neurological injury, mobility focused rehabilitation programs intensively train walking on treadmills or overground. However, after discharge, quite a few patients are not able to independently negotiate stairs, a real-world task with high physical and psychological demands and a high injury risk. To decrease fall risk and improve patients' capacity to navigate typical environments, early stair negotiation training can help restore competence and confidence in safe stair negotiation. One way to enable early training in a safe and permissive environment is to unload the patient with a body weight support system. We here investigated if unloaded stair negotiation complies with basic locomotor principles, in terms of enabling performance of a physiological movement pattern with minimal compensation.