Gait Stability in Parkinson's Improved With Robotic Training

January 10, 2018

Patients with Parkinson disease showed increased gait stability with cable-driven robot training.

HealthDay News — Training with a cable-driven robot is associated with improved response to perturbations and increased gait stability among patients with Parkinson disease (PD), according to a study published online in Scientific Reports.

Dario Martelli, PhD, from Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues trained 9 patients with PD and 9 age-matched controls with multidirectional waist-pull perturbations while walking on a treadmill using a cable-driven robot. While participants were walking without cables, the margin of stability and base of support were assessed, as was the reaction to perturbations.

The researchers found that PD was correlated with reduced stability in the forward direction and the inability to produce proactive anticipatory adjustments. Once the cables were removed, both groups were able to improve the response to the disturbances and produce short-term after effects of increased gait stability.

"A single session of perturbation-based balance training produced acute effects that ameliorated gait instability in PD," the authors write. "This result is encouraging for designing new therapeutic interventions that remediate falls risk."

Reference

Martelli D, Luo L, Kang J, Kang UJ, Fahn S, Agrawal SK. Adaption of stability during perturbed walking in Parkinson's disease. Sci Rep. 2017;7(1):17875.

http://www.neurologyadvisor.com/movement-disorders/gait-stability-in-pd-improved-with-robotic-training/article/733611/