Gait disorders
Conditions
Interventions
Both groups of participants will be assessed during two sessions. During session 1, all participants will walk on a treadmill in an exoskeleton (the Lokomat) during 8 trials, in which BWS (2 levels: 0
Sponsors
University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)
Eligibility
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: In order to be eligible to participate in this study, a subject must meet all of the following criteria: Persons with stroke: 1. A first ever, unilateral stroke (infarction or hemorrhage) 2. At least 3 months post onset 3. Unilateral paresis of the leg 4. A Functional Ambulation Categories Score of 2 (‘ Person needs continuous or intermittent support of one person to help with balance and coordination’) or 3 (‘ Persons requires verbal supervision or stand-by help from one person without physical contact’) 5. Subjects should be older than 18 years Healthy walkers: 1. Participant should be older than 18 years to be included
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Exclusion: A candidate subject who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from the study: Persons with stroke: 1. Severely impaired cognitive functions (Mini Mental State Exam score ≤25) 2. Severe speech, language or communication disorders (it will be left to clinical judgment whether the research subject is able to understand instructions and to provide informed consent; in case of doubt the Aachen Aphasia Test will be administered). 3. Insufficient working knowledge of the Dutch language to understand instructions and provide informed consent (clinical judgment). 4. Severe visual problems (clinical judgment). 5. Severe neglect (clinical judgment through observation. In case of doubt, the Star Cancelation Test can be administered). 6. Co-morbidity that can affect the results of the study (e.g. pre-existent problems in leg function or a progressive neurological disorder). 7. Participation in other scientific studies. Healthy walkers: 1. The participant suffers from neurological, orthopedic, visual, somatosensory or vestibular disorders, or any other disorder that is known to affect gait behavior or muscle activity.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| The rectified and filtered EMG values will be summed for each of the following subphases of the gait cycle: (1) the first double support phase, (2) the single support phase, (3) the second double support phase, and (4) the swing phase. These summed activities will be averaged over strides for each participant. This will result in 4 gait phase values for each unique condition, for each participant. This will allow us to conduct a separate repeated measures ANOVA for each subphase and each muscle, and answer each of the following questions: 1. ‘Are the effects of the main training parameters (treadmill speed, BWS, and guidance) on muscle activity different for hemiparetic walkers compared to healthy walkers?’ 2. ‘Are the effects of the main training parameters (treadmill speed, BWS, and guidance) different for the impaired leg compared to the unimpaired leg in research subjects with hemiparetic stroke ?’ This question concerns the stroke group only. 3. ‘Are the effects of the exo-skeleton on muscle activity different for hemiparetic research subjects compared to healthy walkers, and how does the exo-skeleton affect the effects of BWS and gait speed in both groups?’ The stability of EMG amplitude over the gait cycle will be assessed by calculating the root mean square (RMS) values for the time-normalized EMG pattern of each muscle, for both sessions. Between RMS values of both sessions, intraclass correlation coefficients will be calculated for each muscle and both groups. | — |
Contacts
Public ContactA.R. Otter, den
University of Groningen University Medical Center Groningen Center for Human Movement Sciences P.O. Box 196 A. Deusinglaan 1
Outcome results
None listed