Assessment of applicability of robotic walker for post-stroke hemiparetic individuals through muscle pattern analysis

Stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In most patients, the stroke causes disabilities that hamper the performance of daily tasks autonomously. The most common clinical features in these individuals are hemiparesis, abnormal gait pattern, muscle spasticity and balance loss. There are several studies about the use of robotic devices in hemiparetic individuals, for example for rehabilitation. The robotic walker developed at UFES/Brazil will be assessed for its applicability, using Surface Electromyography (sEMG) to verify the muscle activation during the gait in individuals with post-stroke hemi-paresis. Preliminary tests are being made with the proposed methodology to analyse the robotic walker, but first using a conventional walker two frontal wheels as assistant gait. Two healthy volunteers performed initially a path without the aid of the walker and then with its aid along a flat straight route. sEMG signals are analyzed in order to assess the muscle activity during the gait. After analyzing the data, the results were compared between the free and assisted gait. With the use of the walker the gait speed in healthy volunteers was reduced and, consequently, changes occurred during activation of the muscles. Changes caused by shifting down are important due to improper adjustment of the height of the walker leads to gait changes. As future work, we intend assess the use of robotic walker in clinical trials.