Clinical Outcomes of Individualized Electrostimulation Using a Wearable Electro Suit and Qualitative Feedback From a Mixed Cohort of Survivors of Stroke and Spinal Cord Injury With Spasticity: Case Series.

No control group and only 7 participants, all men, so nobody can say the suit caused any of the improvements. Everything was measured immediately after the session, when participants may already have been tired from the activities they had just done, and may also have been warmed up by them; the authors say the spasticity, gait and mobility changes could be practice effects or neuromuscular warm-up rather than the stimulation. All participants could already walk with minimal or no assistance, so this says nothing about patients who need more help to walk. Only one session was tested. Nothing here tells you what happens with repeated use at home. Usability scores come from first impressions after a single session, and one earlier study found the same difficulty wearing the suit at home. Data on upper limb function and the detailed muscle recordings sat in appendices that are not part of the text summarised here.

No specific funding from any agency, commercial or not-for-profit, and the authors declared no conflicts of interest. Worth knowing: the stimulation settings for each participant were chosen by an experienced physiotherapist from Exopulse, the company that makes the suit, and the authors note that the Exopulse team supported previously published studies of the device.

Do not conclude that the suit reduces spasticity or improves walking. On the study's main measure only 2 of 7 participants improved by more than the measurement's own error margin, and with no control group the walking gains could be practice effects or neuromuscular warm-up rather than the stimulation.