Effects of body-weight support locomotion training (BWSLT) on EMG activation in healthy and spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects

A body-weight support locomotion training (BWSLT) device has been developed for the lower limb rehabilitation. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the device, seven healthy subjects have participated the walking experiments. The experiments include the walking along a floor mat and the walking with the assistance of the device. On the other hand, experiments have been conducted on one spinal cord injury (SCI) subject walking with help of three therapists or the device and one therapist. The comparison on the healthy subject shows the effects of the device via muscle pattern analysis. Another comparison between healthy and SCI subjects walking shows the different conditions of subjects. Finally, we highlight the effectiveness and shortcoming of the device based on the result associated to the SCI subject.