Pilot study of a novel robotic platform for gait rehabilitation in children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Several robotic platforms were recently developed aimed at improving the locomotion capacity of people with gait impairment. Most of these gait trainers are limited to treadmill training, which is not a motivating condition for children with cerebral palsy (CP). This paper presents a pilot study done with two children with spastic CP, who trained with a new robotic platform called CPWalker during five weeks. This experimental device is a novel over ground prototype for gait rehabilitation with body weight support for children with CP. After rehabilitation training, both patients improved the mean velocity, cadence and step length. Moreover, the comparison between pre and post-kinematics analysis without the robot shows specific developments for each subject depending on the focus of the therapy (mainly trunk or hip flexion-extension).