Feasibility and Practice Characteristics of FNS and Gait Robot
Feasibility and Practice Characteristics of FNS and Gait Robot
Conventional therapies do not restore normal gait for many stroke survivors. The long-term goal of this work is to restore volitional lower limb motor control and gait following stroke. In our prior work, we demonstrated that it was feasible to provide a clinically operated, combined treatment of body weight supported treadmill training alone (BWSTT) + functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) using intramuscular (IM) electrodes (FNS-IM).
Specific Aims and Hypothesis The purpose or Specific Aim of the study is to test the feasibility and gait training potential of combining the Lokomat and FNS-IM for stroke survivors. Given the feasibility of our clinically operated combination of BWSTT + FNS-IM, we propose to test the feasibility of the combination of Lokomat + FNS-IM.
Hypothesis I. It is feasible to utilize a clinically operated combination of Lokomat + functional neuromuscular stimulation (FNS) with intramuscular (IM) electrodes (FNS-IM).
Treatment Procedures. The subjects will be treated for three months, four sessions/week (for a total of 48 treatment visits). A given session will be 1 hrs, with the time divided into thirds as follows: 1) hr coordination exercise; 2) hr over ground gait training; and 3) hr Lokomat gait training. FNS-IM will be used in all three aspects of the protocol, unless the subject is capable of volitionally executing a given movement or gait component. Population. The subjects will be chronic stroke survivors (>6 months after the stroke).
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: