The movement of trunk and pelvis in the rolling stand-up walker: Primary research for the exploitation of rehabilitation walker

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to represent the effect on the movement of the pelvis by the posture and the load on upper extremities in gait with the rolling stand-up walker. We measured stride length, the maximum vertical ground reaction force per body weight, the excursion of angles of trunk and pelvis in the movement of obliquity, tilt, and rotation, and the amplitude of center of mass in the vertical and lateral direction while five healthy subjects had performed the gait with a rolling stand-up walker. Our first primary outcome is that the movement of the trunk tilt and rotation, and the pelvic obliquity and rotation had been observed during the gait with the rolling stand-up walker. The second outcome is that 40% of the load on upper extremities restricted the movement of the trunk obliquity and the pelvic tilt. The third outcome is that at 20% of the load on upper extremities, the displacement of the pelvis in lateral and vertical direction had been limited. These suggestions could be a piece of crucial evidence to design the program in the robot-assisted walker.