2015 Volume 30 Issue 4 Pages 577-582
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to clarify the effectiveness of the use of the robot suit, HAL, in physical therapy for the acute phase of stroke. [Subjects and Methods] Acute stage stroke patients admitted to our hospital who met the selection criteria for HAL use were divided into two groups by volunteering to join a HAL group, which received conventional physical therapy and HAL training for both legs twice a week, or a CON group, which received only conventional physical therapy, and the performances of the two groups on the initial and final days of therapy were compared. [Results] On the final day of therapy the 10m self-selected walking speed of the HAL group was significantly faster than that of the CON group. [Conclusion] In the acute stage of stroke, physical therapy utilizing HAL effectively improved patients’ gait performance. It is our opinion that the special features provided by HAL, e.g. movement assistance functions, worked effectively to this end.