Electromechanical Gait Trainer for Gait Rehabilitation for Patients with Stroke.
- Author:
Si Woon PARK
1
;
You Nam CHOI
;
Hyang Mi WEE
;
Soon Ja JANG
;
Han Il KIM
;
Young Ho KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, National Rehabilitation Hospital, Korea. swpark1@nrc.go.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Gait trainer;
Rehabilitation;
Stroke
- MeSH:
Ankle Joint;
Body Weight;
Disabled Persons;
Gait*;
Humans;
Knee;
Rehabilitation*;
Stroke*;
Walking
- From:Journal of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine
2004;28(2):182-187
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
We developed an electromechanical gait trainer for rehabilitation of the persons with disabilities, which was designed to simulate normal gait with partial body weight support. The purpose of this study was to apply it to stroke patients and to evaluate its usability. Four nonambulatory stroke patients had 20 sessions of gait training with newly developed gait trainer for 5 to 6 weeks. Knee and ankle joint angles were measured by electrogoniometer during training. Main outcome was assessed by functional ambu lation category (level 0~5). Knee and ankle joint angles during exercise in the gait trainer showed repetitive pattern of gait-like movement similar to normal gait, though it was variable among the subjects. Functional ambulation category levels after training were 2 in 3 patients and 1 in 1 patient. The electromechanical gait trainer was a useful device for gait retraining in stroke patients with severe neurologic impairments.
