Soft robotic exosuit augmented high intensity gait training on stroke survivors: a pilot study.
Sung Yul Shin, Kristen Hohl, Matt Giffhorn and 3 others
PMID 35655180WHAT IT FOUND
Five chronic stroke survivors walked faster and farther after 18 sessions of high-intensity training with a soft ankle exosuit.
Gains exceeded clinically important thresholds. Without a control group, the specific contribution of the exosuit versus the intense walking practice remains unknown.
Key findings
01Self-selected walking speed improved by 22.7% and walking endurance by 19.5% after 18 training sessions, with average gains exceeding the minimal clinically important differences for these tests.
02Gait quality measures showed significant increases in hip and knee range of motion and improved symmetry, while ankle range of motion did not change significantly despite the device targeting the ankle.
03The study lacked a control group, making it impossible to separate the effects of the soft exosuit from the high-intensity gait training itself.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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 included only five participants, which severely limits the generalizability of the findings. There was no control group, so it is impossible to determine whether the improvements were due to the exosuit, the high-intensity training, or natural recovery. All participants were high-functioning community ambulators (walking speed > 0.8 m/s), so the results may not apply to patients with more severe gait impairments. Follow-up assessments were not conducted, so it is unknown whether the gains persisted after the intervention ended. The minimal clinically important differences used for comparison were derived from acute stroke populations, not chronic stroke, which may affect the interpretation of clinical significance.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government sources. The specific role of the device manufacturer (ReWalk Robotics) in the design, analysis, or writing of the manuscript is not explicitly detailed in the provided text, though the device is a commercial product.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the soft exosuit caused the improvements in walking speed and endurance. The study had no control group, so the gains could be entirely due to the high-intensity gait training itself, which is a known effective intervention for chronic stroke.