Model-informed Patient-specific Rehabilitation Using Robotics and Neuromuscular Modeling

Conditions

• Stroke

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - 80 Years

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• Belt Accelerations — BEHAVIORAL
  Intervention used in both healthy and stroke survivors. In this mode, participants are walking on a treadmill with two belts with independent speed control. The speed of each belt will increase with constant acceleration during double support, shortly before push-off of the supported leg.
• Belt accelerations combined with an exoskeleton — BEHAVIORAL
  Intervention used in both healthy and stroke survivors. In this mode, participants are walking on a treadmill with two belts with independent speed control, and using a hip exoskeleton. The velocity of each belt will increase with constant acceleration during double support, shortly before push-off of the supported leg. At the same time, they will be interacting with a wearable motion assistive device (i.e., exoskeleton). The exoskeleton will apply forces to the leg to resist hip extension during accelerations, reducing hip extension relative to the values of that participant at baseline.
• Variable Stiffness treadmill — BEHAVIORAL
  Intervention used in both healthy and stroke survivors. In this mode, participants are walking on a treadmill with two belts with identical speed control. A variable stiffness mechanism under one belt will change the vertical stiffness of one side of the treadmill for one or multiple steps. The walkers will be informed before stepping on the softer surface on one side, which can be either the left or the right side.

Study Details

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the primary cause of long-term disability in the United States, affecting approximately 795,000 people each year. Hemiparesis, or unilateral weakness, is common after stroke and responsible for changes in muscle activation and movement patterns as well as declines in walking speed. It has been shown that increased walking speed directly corresponds to a higher quality of life in older adults and therefore, is often the goal of motor rehabilitation after stroke. However, there is no consensus on the best method for improving walking function after stroke and the results of post-stroke gait studies vary widely across sites and studies. Walking is one of the human's most important functions that serve survival, progress, and interaction. The force between the foot and the walking surface is very important. Although there have been many studies trying to understand this, there is a need for the development of a system that can advance research and provide new functionality. In this work, we will conduct a series of studies that attempt to analyze human gait and adaptations from different perspectives.

Key Dates

Start date

Sep 21, 2022

Status verified

Aug 2023

Primary completion

Jun 30, 2026

Completion

Jun 30, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

72 participants (estimated)

Allocation

NA

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Arms

• Experimental: All subjects
  All subjects (healthy and stroke survivors) participating in the study

Primary Outcome Measure

Contralateral plantarflexor muscle activation during exposure to belt accelerations [ Time Frame: During intervention ]

Locations (1)

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