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Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation
Published in: Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation 1/2013

Open Access 01-12-2013 | Research

Effects of robotic guidance on the coordination of locomotion

Authors: Juan C Moreno, Filipe Barroso, Dario Farina, Leonardo Gizzi, Cristina Santos, Marco Molinari, José L Pons

Published in: Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation | Issue 1/2013

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Abstract

Background

Functional integration of motor activity patterns enables the production of coordinated movements, such as walking. The activation of muscles by weightened summation of activation signals has been demonstrated to represent the spatiotemporal components that determine motor behavior during walking. Exoskeleton robotic devices are now often used in the rehabilitation practice to assist physical therapy of individuals with neurological disorders. These devices are used to promote motor recovery by providing guidance force to the patients. The guidance should in principle lead to a muscle coordination similar to physiological human walking. However, the influence of robotic devices on locomotor patterns needs still to be characterized. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of force guidance and gait speed on the modular organization of walking in a group of eight healthy subjects.

Method

A group of healthy subjects walked on a treadmill with and without robotic aiding at speeds of 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 Km/h. The guidance force was varied between 20%, 40%, 70% and 100% level of assistance. EMG recordings were obtained from seven leg muscles of the dominant leg and kinematic and kinetic features of the knee and hip joints were extracted.

Results

Four motor modules were sufficient to represent the variety of behavioral goals demanded during robotic guidance, with similar relationships between muscle patterns and biomechanical parameters across subjects, confirming that the low-dimensional and impulsive control of human walking is maintained using robotic force guidance. The conditions of guidance force and speed that maintained correct and incorrect (not natural) modular control were identified.

Conclusion

In neurologically intact subjects robotic-guided walking at various force guidance and speed levels does not alter the basic locomotor control and timing. This allows the design of robotic-aided rehabilitation strategies aimed at the modulation of motor modules, which are altered in stroke.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Effects of robotic guidance on the coordination of locomotion
Authors
Juan C Moreno
Filipe Barroso
Dario Farina
Leonardo Gizzi
Cristina Santos
Marco Molinari
José L Pons
Publication date
01-12-2013
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation / Issue 1/2013
Electronic ISSN: 1743-0003
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-0003-10-79

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