Department of Physiotherapy, College of Rehabilitation, Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Animal Physiology, Institute of Biology, The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Kielce, Poland.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2018;1070:111-115. doi: 10.1007/5584_2018_158.
This study deals with the use of a robot-assisted body-weight-supported treadmill training in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with gait dysfunction. Twenty MS patients (10 men and 10 women) of the mean of 46.3 ± 8.5 years were assigned to a six-week-long training period with the use of robot-assisted treadmill training of increasing intensity of the Lokomat type. The outcome measure consisted of the difference in motion-dependent torque of lower extremity joint muscles after training compared with baseline before training. We found that the training uniformly and significantly augmented the torque of both extensors and flexors of the hip and knee joints. The muscle power in the lower limbs of SM patients was improved, leading to corrective changes of disordered walking movements, which enabled the patients to walk with less effort and less assistance of care givers. The torque augmentation could have its role in affecting the function of the lower extremity muscle groups during walking. The results of this pilot study suggest that the robot-assisted body-weight-supported treadmill training may be a potential adjunct measure in the rehabilitation paradigm of 'gait reeducation' in peripheral neuropathies.
本研究探讨了机器人辅助减重支持跑步机训练在步态功能障碍的多发性硬化症（MS）患者中的应用。20 名 MS 患者（10 名男性和 10 名女性）的平均年龄为 46.3±8.5 岁，被分配到为期六周的训练期，使用 Lokomat 型机器人辅助跑步机训练，逐渐增加强度。 测量结果包括与训练前基线相比，训练后下肢关节肌肉运动相关扭矩的差异。我们发现，训练均匀且显著地增加了髋关节和膝关节的伸肌和屈肌的扭矩。MS 患者的下肢肌肉力量得到了提高，导致紊乱的步行运动得到纠正性改变，使患者能够更轻松地行走，减少护理人员的帮助。扭矩增强可能在行走过程中影响下肢肌肉群的功能。这项初步研究的结果表明，机器人辅助减重支持跑步机训练可能是周围神经病“步态再教育”康复模式的潜在辅助措施。
