Cerebral Palsy
Conditions
Brief summary
Children with spastic cerebral palsy suffer from significant weakness that contributes to abnormal posture and movement. It is thought that this arises due lack of frequency sufficient tension to encourage normal muscular growth underlying the need for early intervention to encourage walking. The failure of muscle growth to keep pace with bone growth is most evident in the bi-articular muscles and contributes to joint contractures and gait abnormalities such as toe-walking and flexed-knee gait. Recently, our research team has developed a novel, lightweight (0.2kg at knee joint) and portable (energetically autonomous) Soft Wearable Robotic Knee System that can provide active powered knee assistance and synchronized proprioceptive feedback for the gait training of stroke patients' standing and walking.
Interventions
DEVICESoft Wearable Robotic Knee System
Power assistance will be provided from the motor to the knee joint
Sponsors
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* capable of understanding the proposed exercises; * aged 2 to 15 years; * maximum weight 75 kg; * children with no deformations that could prevent the use of the exoskeleton; * Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I to III; * able to signal pain or discomfort.
Exclusion criteria
* unhealed skin lesions in the lower limbs; * aggressive or self-harming behaviors; * severe cognitive impairment.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gross Motor Function Classification System | Within one month after the last training session | It categorized the gross motor function of children and young people with cerebral palsy into 5 different levels. With level 1: Children walk at home, school, outdoors and in the community, while level 5: Children are transported in a manual wheelchair in all settings. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 6-Minute-Walk Test | Within one month after the last training session | It is a sub-maximal exercise test used to assess aerobic capacity and endurance. The distance covered over a time of 6 minutes is used as the outcome by which to compare changes in performance capacity. |
| 10-Meter-Walk Test | Within one month after the last training session | It is a performance measure used to assess walking speed in meters per second over a short distance. |
| Timed Up and Go test | Within one month after the last training session | It is used to determine fall risk and measure the progress of balance, sit to stand and walking. |
| Five Times Sit to Stand Test | Within one month after the last training session | It is used to assess functional lower extremity strength, transitional movements, balance, and fall risk. |
| Berg Balance Scale | Within one month after the last training session | It is used to objectively determine a person's ability to safely balance during a series of predetermined tasks. It is a 14-item list with each item consisting of a five-point ordinal scale ranging from 0 to 4, with 0 indicating the lowest level of function and 4 the highest level of function. |
Countries
Hong Kong
Contacts
Primary ContactRaymond Tong, PhD
Outcome results
None listed