Examination of the intervention effect of the rehabilitation of the robotic knee orthosis

Abstract

We examine the effects of exercise using the robotic knee orthosis (RKO) for patients in the recovery phase of stroke in a randomized controlled trial design. There were 28 subjects and they were divided into two groups: the group using the RKO (RKO group) and the group not using it (conventional group). The intervention term was 10 days. Participants were evaluated three times at pre-intervention, post-intervention and one month post intervention. The evaluations measured gait speed, cadence, stride length, left-right symmetry of the step length, percentage of one-leg support period of paresis side and non-paresis side during the walking cycle, left-right symmetry of one-leg support periods, BBS and FIM. Baseline comparison, within-group comparison, and between-groups comparison were performed in the analysis. The percentage of one-leg support period of the paresis side and the left-right symmetry were significantly increased in the RKO group at post-intervention. And The percentage of one-leg support period of the paresis side were also increased at one month post intervention. It was suggested that an increasing exercise amount in the RKO group had an effect on the outcome.