Evaluating the effects of delivering integrated kinesthetic and tactile cues to individuals with unilateral hemiparetic stroke during overground walking.

BACKGROUND: Integration of kinesthetic and tactile cues for application to post-stroke gait rehabilitation is a novel concept which needs to be explored. The combined provision of haptic cues may result in collective improvement of gait parameters such as symmetry, balance and muscle activation patterns. Our proposed integrated cue system can offer a cost-effective and voluntary gait training experience for rehabilitation of subjects with unilateral hemiparetic stroke. METHODS: Ten post-stroke ambulatory subjects participated in a 10 m walking trial while utilizing the haptic cues (either alone or integrated application), at their preferred and increased gait speeds. In the system a haptic cane device (HCD) provided kinesthetic perception and a vibrotactile feedback device (VFD) provided tactile cue on the paretic leg for gait modification. Balance, gait symmetry and muscle activity were analyzed to identify the benefits of utilizing the proposed system. RESULTS: When using kinesthetic cues, either alone or integrated with a tactile cue, an increase in the percentage of non-paretic peak activity in the paretic muscles was observed at the preferred gait speed (vastus medialis obliquus: p <  0.001, partial eta squared (η2) = 0.954; semitendinosus p <  0.001, partial η2 = 0.793) and increased gait speeds (vastus medialis obliquus: p <  0.001, partial η2 = 0.881; semitendinosus p = 0.028, partial η2 = 0.399). While using HCD and VFD (individual and integrated applications), subjects could walk at their preferred and increased gait speeds without disrupting trunk balance in the mediolateral direction. The temporal stance symmetry ratio was improved when using tactile cues, either alone or integrated with a kinesthetic cue, at their preferred gait speed (p <  0.001, partial η2 = 0.702). CONCLUSIONS: When combining haptic cues, the subjects walked at their preferred gait speed with increased temporal stance symmetry and paretic muscle activity affecting their balance. Similar improvements were observed at higher gait speeds. The efficacy of the proposed system is influenced by gait speed. Improvements were observed at a 20% increased gait speed, whereas, a plateau effect was observed at a 40% increased gait speed. These results imply that integration of haptic cues may benefit post-stroke gait rehabilitation by inducing simultaneous improvements in gait symmetry and muscle activity.

Study on the Effects of Different Seat and Leg Support Conditions of a Trunk Rehabilitation Robot.

Performance of trunk rehabilitation exercises while sitting on movable surfaces with feet on the ground can increase trunk and leg muscle activations, and constraining the feet to move with the seat isolates control of the trunk. However, there are no detailed studies on the effects of these different leg supports on the trunk and leg muscle activations under unstable and forcefully perturbed seating conditions. We have recently devised a trunk rehabilitation robot that can generate unstable and forcefully perturbed sitting surfaces, and can be used with ground-mounted or seat-connected footrests. In this study, we have evaluated the differences in balance performance, trunk movement and muscle activation (trunk and legs) of fourteen healthy adults caused by the use of these different footrest configurations under the different seating scenarios. The center of pressure and trunk movement results show that the seat-connected footrest may be a more suitable choice for use in a balance recovery focused rehabilitation protocol, while the ground-mounted footrest may be a more suitable choice for a trunk movement focused rehabilitation protocol. Although it is difficult to make a clear selection between footrests due to the mixed trends observed in the muscle activation results, it appears that the seat-connected footrest may be preferable for use with the unstable seat as it causes greater muscle activations. Furthermore, the results provide limited evidence that targeting of a particular muscle group may be possible through careful selection of the seat and footrest conditions. Therefore, it may be possible to utilize the trunk rehabilitation robot to maximize the training outcomes for a wide range of patients through careful selection of training protocols.

Identifying the effects of using integrated haptic feedback for gait rehabilitation of stroke patients.

This paper evaluates the prospects of using a novel Integrated Haptic Feedback (IHF) system. IHF can provide over-ground gait training regimens for post-stroke ambulatory subjects. IHF system combines the use of a portable cane for kinesthetic feedback and a wearable vibrotactor array for tactile feedback. Continuous somatosensory input is aiforded to the users at the handle of cane; it serves the purpose of balance assurance at higher gait speeds. Besides, restricted use of upper limb for weight-bearing inspires the users to involve the paretic lower limbs more actively. Furthermore, tactile feedback contributes in enhancing the gait symmetry through afferent signal of vibration. Six post-stroke ambulatory individuals participated in walking trials to identity the effects of IHF system. Results indicate that while walking faster patients' body sway was not disturbed. Statistically significant increase was observed in temporal stance symmetry (p-value=0.02) and in paretic muscle (vastus medialis obliquus and semitendinosus) activation during stance phase (p-value<0.01). The IHF system can be a valuable tool to assist physical therapist in gait rehabilitation of post-stroke individuals.