Article

Spinal cord injury (SCI) influences a person's ability to stand and
walk. Various orthoses have been developed to solve these standing and walking
problems, however, patients still experience high energy consumption during
walking and high forces on the upper limbs. A new reciprocal gait orthosis (RGO)
was designed to address these problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
performance of the new orthosis design with paraplegic subjects. METHOD: Three
paraplegic subjects with the lesion at level T12 and three able-bodied subjects
were included in this study. Hip and pelvis range of motion and vertical ground
reaction force were evaluated using the Qualysis motion analyzer system and a
Kistler force plate. Energy consumption was measured with the Polar heart rate
monitoring system. The differences between SCI individuals when walking with a
Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO) and the new RGO, and the differences between
able-bodied and paraplegic subjects were evaluated by the use of paired sample
and two sample t test, respectively. RESULT: The results showed that energy
consumption and gait analysis outcomes with new RGO orthosis were better than the
KAFO. However, there was a large difference between paraplegic and able-bodied
subjects while walking with the new orthosis. CONCLUSION: The new RGO design
performed better than a KAFO in terms of energy consumption, walking style and
vertical ground reaction force. Therefore, it appears that RGO may be a useful
orthosis for patients with paraplegia. Implications for Rehabilitation Walking
and standing of the subjects with spinal cord injury (SCI) improve their
physiological and physiological health. This study introduces a new type of
orthosis design in order to improve the abilities of SCI subjects during walking
and standing. It seems that the new design works better than available orthoses
(KAFO).

Langue : ANGLAIS