Robotic-assisted Locomotor Training on Mobility and Cardiopulmonary Function in Patients Suffering From Spinal Cord Injury

Evidences showed that patients suffering from spinal cord injury (SCI) have poor mobility and higher chance to develop cardiopulmonary diseases, which leads to poor quality of life and shorter life expectancy. Different modalities were developed aiming at mobility restoration in SCI patients and robotic assisted body weight supported treadmill training is one of the latest technique in recent years. Yet there are scarce studies to investigate its effectiveness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of robotic-assisted body weight supported treadmill training on mobility and cardiopulmonary function of patients suffering from SCI by a randomized controlled trial. 80 patients suffering from incomplete SCI will be recruited for an 8-week training program. They will be randomized into either robotic assisted body weight supported treadmill training group or passive lower limb mobilization training group. The training effects will be measured by Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury version II, lower extremity motor score, lower limb Modified Ashworth Scale, robotic gait system, gait analysis and gas analysis under sub maximal exercise stress test. Through the study, we intent to find the effectiveness of robotic-assisted body weight support treadmill training on walking and cardiopulmonary recovery with patients suffering from incomplete spinal cord injury. The hypothesis of the study is: Compared to the control group, robotic-assisted body weight supported treadmill training leads to a greater improvement in walking ability and cardiopulmonary functioning.