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About

Emma De Keersmaecker is a rehabilitation scientist whose research sits at the intersection of neurological rehabilitation, assistive technology, and exercise physiology. Her work focuses primarily on optimizing walking recovery after stroke, with a particular emphasis on robot-assisted gait training and the physiological demands it places on survivors. Through rigorous systematic reviews and experimental studies, De Keersmaecker has made significant contributions to understanding how different walking assistance modalities—including robotic exoskeletons, body weight–supported treadmill systems, and overground devices—affect energy consumption, cardiorespiratory responses, and perceived exertion in stroke populations. Her most-cited work (2019, 24 citations) established pooled energy expenditure benchmarks during post-stroke walking, providing clinicians with evidence-based reference data. Complementing this, her investigations into physiological responses during 30-minute robot-assisted sessions revealed critical insights about exercise intensity thresholds, informing more effective rehabilitation protocols. Notably, she has extended this research to non-ambulatory stroke survivors—a frequently underrepresented group—demonstrating that robotic devices can facilitate aerobic exercise even in severely impaired patients. More recently, her exploration of intrinsic motivation toward wearable hip exoskeletons signals a growing interest in patient engagement and long-term technology adoption. Collectively, her work is shaping evidence-based standards for technology-assisted stroke rehabilitation.