Publication at Second Faculty of Medicine |
2010
Abstract
Body weight support locomotion training is a classical rehabilitation method in patients who have suffered injury to the spinal cord. It is based on the discovery that repetitive cyclic passive movements can stimulate locomotor centres in the spinal cord.
Numerous studies have documented motor recovery in vertebrate animals and in incomplete spinal-cord-injured humans. Manual-assisted, body-weight support treadmill training requires a large number of physiotherapists working in an ergonomically inconvenient position.
New approaches to robotic locomotion training are therefore being developed. The aim is to design a device that provides minimal necessary locomotion assistance depending on the severity of the motor impairment.