Millions of people are unable to move their limbs as a result of a neurological disorder or after being injured. However, a new algorithm, coupled with a robot-assisted rehabilitation treatment, can help patients return to walking naturally.
Spinal cord injuries, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and other neurological disorders can lead to paralysis of the extremities, either of the lower half of the body or tetraplegia (of all four limbs).
Now, a team of researchers from the National Center for Competence in Robotics Research of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the University Hospital of Lausanne, both in Switzerland, has presented innovative technology that can help these patients regain their locomotor skills.
The current technology in rehabilitation for people with motor disabilities is too rigid or does not allow patients to move naturally in all directions.
The key to this innovative treatment is in an algorithm that helps a robotic harness to facilitate patients’ movements, allowing them to move naturally. Due to the fact that the nervous system must be helped to ‘relearn’ the correct movements, which is difficult after the loss of muscle mass and the neurological wiring that has ‘forgotten’ the correct postures, the algorithm coordinates with the harness to facilitate natural and wide movements.
The algorithm has been tested in more than 30 patients with resounding success. Patients immediately and incredibly improved their locomotor abilities thanks to this mobile harness.
In this video you can see how the harness works
A revolutionary algorithm
The researchers developed the so-called ‘gravity-assisted algorithm’ after carefully monitoring patients’ movements and considering parameters such as leg movement, stride duration, and muscle activity.
As the study authors explain, from these measurements, the algorithm identifies the forces that must be applied to the upper half of the body to allow natural movement when walking.
The smart walking assistant is an innovative body weight support system because it manages to resist the force of gravity and pushes the patient back and forth, left and right, or in several directions at the same time, depending on the movement that patients need in their day to day.
“I hope that this platform will play a critical role in walking rehabilitation for people with neurological disorders,” explains neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine, co-author of the work.
“This is intelligent, discreet and efficient assistance that will help the rehabilitation of many people with neurological disorders,” explains Jocelyne Bloch, co-author of the study.
In the United States alone, there are approximately 17,000 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) each year. Of these, 20% conclude with complete paraplegia (paralysis of the legs and lower half of the body) and more than 13% with tetraplegia (paralysis of the four limbs).
Referencia: A multidirectional gravity-assist algorithm that enhances locomotor control in patients with stroke or spinal cord injury. Science Translational Medicine. 2017. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aah3621
