Overground walking with a robotic exoskeleton elicits trunk muscle activity in people with high-thoracic motor-complete spinal cord injury.

Only eight SCI participants were tested, so the findings may not apply to all people with high-thoracic motor-complete SCI. All testing was done in a single session after familiarization, so it does not show what happens over a training programme. The study measured trunk muscle electrical activity and trunk acceleration, not seated balance or functional improvement. The Lokomat condition used a harness with about 50% body weight support and handrails, while Ekso conditions used a walker or handrails, so the effect of the device and the support cannot be fully separated. Researchers could not record trunk kinematics or account for forces exerted by the arms on the walker or handrails. Condition order was quasi-randomized, with the Lokomat always first or last. The minimum Lokomat speed was 1 km/h, so the comparison was at slow speeds. Body weight support was fixed at about 50% for SCI participants during Lokomat walking because of injury level, so the able-bodied body weight support check may not settle the issue for SCI participants. Left erector spinae data were unavailable for a participant due to technical error.

The supplied text does not report a conflicts-of-interest or funding declaration. The article is labelled as supported by non-U.S. government research.

Do not read this as proof that Ekso improves walking, balance, or trunk control. It measured muscle activity in people with SCI during a single session, and the Ekso conditions included a walker or handrails while the Lokomat included harness support, so the devices and supports are not interchangeable.