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... Christopher Bigelow¹, Kimberly Edginton¹, Mukul Talaty², and Necip Berme³ ¹ Bertec Corporation, Columbus, Ohio, USA; ² Gait & Motion Analysis ... TM Cook and BA Cozzens worked for Moss Rehabilitation in Pennsylvania while RE Major, GK Rose, and JH Tait designed a ...

The objective of this technical paper is to demonstrate how graphing kinematic data to represent body segment coordination and control can assist clinicians and researchers in understanding typical and aberrant human movement patterns. Aberrant movements are believed to be associated with musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. A dynamical systems approach to analysing movement provides a useful way to study movement control and coordination. Continuous motion angle-angle and coupling angle-movement cycle graphs provide information about coordinated movement between body segments, whereas phase-plane graphs provide information about neuromuscular control of a body segment. Examples demonstrate how a dynamical systems approach can be used to represent (1) typical movement patterns of the lumbopelvic and shoulder regions; (2) aberrant coordination in an individual with low back pain who presented with altered lumbopelvic rhythm; and (3) aberrant control of shoulder movement in an individual with observed scapular dysrhythmia. Angle-angle and coupling angle-movement cycle graphs were consistent with clinical operational definitions of typical and altered lumbopelvic rhythm. Phase-plane graphs illustrated differences in scapular control between individuals having typical scapular motion and an individual with scapular dysrhythmia. Angle-angle, coupling angle-movement cycle, and phase-plane graphs provide information about the amount and timing of segmental motion, which clinicians assess when they observe movements. These approaches have the potential to (1) enhance understanding of typical and aberrant movement patterns; (2) assist with identifying underlying movement impairments that contribute to aberrant movements: and (3) improve clinicians' ability to visually assess and categorize functional movements.

The aim of this study was to assess the safety and performance of ReWalk in enabling people with paraplegia due to spinal cord injury to carry out routine ambulatory functions. This was an open, noncomparative, nonrandomized study of the safety and performance of the ReWalk powered exoskeleton. All 12 subjects have completed the active intervention; three remain in long-term follow-up. After training, all subjects were able to independently transfer and walk, without human assistance while using the ReWalk, for at least 50 to 100 m continuously, for a period of at least 5 to 10 mins continuously and with velocities ranging from 0.03 to 0.45 m/sec (mean, 0.25 m/sec). Excluding two subjects with considerably reduced walking abilities, average distances and velocities improved significantly. Some subjects reported improvements in pain, bowel and bladder function, and spasticity during the trial. All subjects had strong positive comments regarding the emotional/psychosocial benefits of the use of ReWalk. ReWalk holds considerable potential as a safe ambulatory powered orthosis for motor-complete thoracic-level spinal cord injury patients. Most subjects achieved a level of walking proficiency close to that needed for limited community ambulation. A high degree of performance variability was observed across individuals. Some of this variability was explained by level of injury, but other factors have not been completely identified. Further development and application of this rehabilitation tool to other diagnoses are expected in the future.