A lower-extremity exoskeleton improves knee extension in children with crouch gait from cerebral palsy.

ABSTRACT: The ability to walk contributes considerably to physical health and overall well-being, particularly in children with motor disability, and is therefore prioritized as a rehabilitation goal. However, half of ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP), the most prevalent childhood movement disorder, cease to walk in adulthood. Robotic gait trainers have shown positive outcomes in initial studies, but these clinic-based systems are limited to short-term programs of insufficient length to maintain improved function in a lifelong disability such as CP. Sophisticated wearable exoskeletons are now available, but their utility in treating childhood movement disorders remains unknown. We evaluated an exoskeleton for the treatment of crouch (or flexed-knee) gait, one of the most debilitating path

SUBMITTER: Lerner ZF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9993999 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature