We are studying the forces applied by therapists when assisting on the legs of @entity1 with @entity1566 ( @entity1566 ) during body-weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT). This paper presents results from three experiments with three @entity1 and six different therapists. We attached a sensorized orthosis to one of the legs of the @entity1 and measured the forces exerted by the therapists when assisting on that leg through the orthosis. We also measured the kinematics of the @entity17237 . The hips and opposite leg were assisted by two other therapists as usual. We found a high repeatability across steps for the forces applied by each therapist. Better-skilled therapists elicited significantly better leg extension in stance phase by exerting significantly larger horizontal forces on the knee during stance. Better-skilled therapists also elicited better toe clearance during initial-to-mid swing, with fewer or no episodes of toe dragging. This better toe clearance was not generally correlated with larger therapist push-up forces at the ankle. We did find, however, that better toe clearance in swing was correlated with better extension of the same leg in stance, suggesting that a normative leg extension in stance contributed to better muscle activity of the same leg in swing. These results provide insight into therapist-assisted gait training, which may be useful for optimizing robotic gait-training devices.

Quantification of therapists' manual assistance on the leg during treadmill gait training with partial body-weight support after XXXX .

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity17237 :: ('22941', 'Gene') :: ['shank'] @entity1566 :: ('MESH:D013119', 'Disease') :: ['spinal cord injury', 'SCI']
@entity1566 :: (MESH:D013119,Disease) :: ['spinal cord injury']
