ABSTRACT
This study investigated changes of gait pattern induced by a 4-week robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) in twelve ambulatory spastic diparesis children with cerebral palsy (CP) aged 10.4+/-3.2 years old by using computerized gait analysis (CGA). Pre-post intervention CGA data of children with CP was contrasted to the normative data of typically developing children by using cross-correlation and statistically evaluated by a Wilcoxon test. Significant pre-post intervention changes (p<0.01) include: decreased muscle activity of biceps femoris, rectus femoris, and tibialis anterior; a decrease in range of internal hip joint rotation, higher cadence, step length, and increased stride time. This study suggests that RAGT can be used in muscle reeducation and improved hip joint motion range in ambulatory children with CP.
Subject(s)
Cerebral Palsy/rehabilitation , Gait , Lower Extremity/innervation , Physical Therapy Modalities/instrumentation , Robotics/instrumentation , Adolescent , Age Factors , Biomechanical Phenomena , Cerebral Palsy/diagnosis , Cerebral Palsy/physiopathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Czech Republic , Female , Gait Analysis , Humans , Male , Muscle Strength , Range of Motion, Articular , Recovery of Function , Slovenia , Time Factors , Treatment Outcome , Weight-BearingABSTRACT
Nowadays, bipedal walking is undergoing extensive study. Several methods can be used in physiotherapeutic research for identifying defects in bipedal walking as a result of pathology of the musculoskeletal or nervous system. Our work focuses on studying asymmetry of walking based on synchronized bilateral knee-knee cyclograms. Participants presenting with peroneal nerve palsy and foot drop were included in the study. The bilateral cyclograms, also called angle-angle diagrams, were created to quantify gait asymmetry before and immediately after application of a brace. In order to quantify the asymmetry of human walking, we have described and tested the application of the method based on the inclination angle of the synchronized bilateral cyclograms. The symmetry index (SI) was used as a comparative method to evaluate the symmetry of bipedal walking. The method based on the orientation of the cyclograms can be used as an additional method for determining the gait asymmetry. The new technique has never been applied before to study the gait asymmetry in patients with peroneal nerve palsy or patients with leg brace.
