Safety, feasibility and preliminary effects of Atalante exoskeleton-assisted gait training in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a prospective ABA pilot study.
Ghida Trad, Timothée Lenglet, Isabelle Ledoux and 5 others
PMID 42387593WHAT IT FOUND
Ten people with ALS completed six weeks of exoskeleton gait training safely.
Objective measures showed no significant change, but participants reported high motivation and perceived benefits. This confirms feasibility and safety, not that the training preserves walking function.
Key findings
01The intervention was safe and feasible, with no serious adverse events and high adherence.
02No objective outcome showed a statistically significant improvement during the training phase.
03Participants reported positive experiences, including high intrinsic motivation and perceived impact on posture.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was very small (n=10) and uncontrolled, meaning any observed changes could be due to natural disease progression, placebo effect, or other factors. The intervention duration (6 weeks) and dose (30 mins/session) may have been too low to detect changes in a progressive disease. Usual care (physiotherapy) varied between participants and continued throughout, making it hard to isolate the exoskeleton's specific effect. Objective outcomes did not improve, and the study was not powered to detect small changes or preservation of function. Two participants missed some withdrawal phase visits, requiring data interpolation.
Declared interests
Funded by the Association pour la Recherche sur la Sclérose Latérale Amyotrophique et autres Maladies du Motoneurique. No commercial conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that exoskeleton training preserves walking function in ALS. The study was a safety and feasibility pilot with no significant objective improvements. The positive findings were about tolerance and patient experience, not efficacy.