TY - GEN
T1 - Immediate effects of force feedback and plantar somatosensory stimuli on inter-limb coordination during perturbed walking
AU - Zhang, Yufeng
AU - Nolan, Karen J.
AU - Zanotto, Damiano
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 IEEE.
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - Single-sided motor weakness, also known as hemiparesis, is the most prevalent gait impairment among stroke survivors, which often results in gait asymmetry. Studies on robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) have shown positive effects of force feedback on spatial symmetry; somatosensory stimulation is thought to facilitate recovery of temporal symmetry. Despite the known importance of sensorimotor integration for motor recovery, interventions that incorporate RAGT and somatosensory stimuli have been largely overlooked so far. In this paper, we explore how gait symmetry can be restored in healthy subjects following unilateral foot perturbations, using adaptive assistive forces and plantar vibrotactile stimuli provided by a bilateral powered ankle-foot orthosis. Results suggest that combined force feedback and vibrotactile stimuli may be more effective than force feedback alone in reducing spatial asymmetry. Further, force feedback did not produce significant improvements in temporal symmetry, unlike the combined modality. We discuss possible implications of these preliminary findings for future training paradigms for RAGT.
AB - Single-sided motor weakness, also known as hemiparesis, is the most prevalent gait impairment among stroke survivors, which often results in gait asymmetry. Studies on robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) have shown positive effects of force feedback on spatial symmetry; somatosensory stimulation is thought to facilitate recovery of temporal symmetry. Despite the known importance of sensorimotor integration for motor recovery, interventions that incorporate RAGT and somatosensory stimuli have been largely overlooked so far. In this paper, we explore how gait symmetry can be restored in healthy subjects following unilateral foot perturbations, using adaptive assistive forces and plantar vibrotactile stimuli provided by a bilateral powered ankle-foot orthosis. Results suggest that combined force feedback and vibrotactile stimuli may be more effective than force feedback alone in reducing spatial asymmetry. Further, force feedback did not produce significant improvements in temporal symmetry, unlike the combined modality. We discuss possible implications of these preliminary findings for future training paradigms for RAGT.
KW - Gait symmetry
KW - Inter-limb coordination
KW - Powered orthoses
KW - Robot-assisted gait training
KW - Somatosensory stimuli
KW - Wearable robotics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071194391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071194391&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779565
DO - 10.1109/ICORR.2019.8779565
M3 - Conference contribution
C2 - 31374638
AN - SCOPUS:85071194391
T3 - IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics
SP - 252
EP - 257
BT - 2019 IEEE 16th International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, ICORR 2019
T2 - 16th IEEE International Conference on Rehabilitation Robotics, ICORR 2019
Y2 - 24 June 2019 through 28 June 2019
ER -