Design and Evaluation of a Pelvic-Assisted Gait Training Robot for Mobility Improvement in Stroke Patients.

Periodic task-specific repetitive movements have been shown to improve motor performance in stroke patients. As a typical periodic task-specific repetitive movement, gait training with wearable devices might be effective in improving mobility in stroke patient. In this study, we designed a pelvic-assisted gait training robot and evaluated its effectiveness in clinical practice. Equipped with force and position sensors, this robot features a pelvic structure with multiple degrees of freedom. Its mechanical structure, motor actuators, sensors, and safety protection features have been optimized for patient-active control strategies based on force control algorithms and real-time monitoring. In this study, we assessed whether stroke patients could benefit from this training and improve their mobility. We randomly assigned 33 stroke patients to either the experimental group, which underwent pelvic-assisted gait training, or the control group, which received gait training supervised by a physical therapist. We assessed lower extremity mobility, motor function, and activities of daily living before and after the intervention After intervention, participants in the experimental group walked more independently than those in the control group. Also, ability of maintaining balance in participants in the experimental group also improved significantly. The results of this preliminary study indicated that pelvic-assisted gait training not only reduced the burden on therapists and provided high-intensity training but also produced quantitative evaluation results that might help us design better training protocols for stroke patients.