Walking With a Robotic Exoskeleton Does Not Mimic Natural Gait: A Within-Subjects Study.
Chad Swank, Sharon Wang-Price, Fan Gao and 1 others
PMID 31344681WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy adults walking in an EKSO robotic exoskeleton moved much slower, with shorter steps and less ankle motion.
Muscle activity changed. This was first-session walking, not training, and not people with neurological injury.
Key findings
01Walking with EKSO changed all temporospatial gait parameters: speed was 1.32 m/s without EKSO and 0.31 m/s with EKSO, stride length was 1.41 m without EKSO and 0.72 m with EKSO, and double-limb support was 0.17 s without EKSO and 0.45 s with EKSO.
02With EKSO, stance-phase hip and ankle motion were lower and knee motion was higher, while swing-phase hip motion was similar and knee and ankle motion were lower.
03Stance-phase muscle activity was lower in all measured muscles, and swing-phase activity was higher in bilateral soleus and tibialis anterior and left medial hamstring.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample was 15 healthy, young, active adults, not the intended users with locomotion disabilities. Participants had only 15 minutes of practice and were tested during their first EKSO session. Walking speed was not controlled. EKSO normally requires an assistive device, but this study did not use one. The study used peak EMG normalization rather than a single maximum muscle test. No patient outcomes or training effects were measured.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that robotic exoskeleton gait training does not work for patients. The study tested healthy adults during their first EKSO session, with a short practice period, no assistive device, and no controlled walking speed.