KineAssist: Design and Development of a Robotic Overground Gait and Balance
Therapy Device
Topics
in Stroke Rehabilitation
Background and
Purpose: Balance and mobility training consists of activities that carry a high
risk for falling. The purpose of this article is to describe a novel robotic
system for allowing challenging, yet safe, balance and mobility training in
persons at high risk for falls. Method: With no initial
preconceptions of what device we would build, a user-needs analysis led us to
focus on increasing the level of challenge to a patient’s ability to maintain
balance during gait training and also on maintaining direct involvement of a
physical therapist (rather than attempting robotic replacement). The KineAssist®
is a robotic device for gait and balance training that has emerged from a
unique design process of a start-up product of a small company and a team of
therapists, engineers, mechanical design experts, and rehabilitation
scientists. Results: The KineAssist® provides
partial body weight support and postural control on the torso; allows many axes
of motion of the trunk and pelvis; leaves the patient’s legs accessible to a
physical therapist’s manipulation during walking; follows a patient’s walking
motions overground in forward, rotation, and sidestepping directions; and
catches an individual who loses balance and begins to fall. Discussion and Conclusion: Design and development of
the KineAssist® proceeded more rapidly in the context of a small company than would
have been possible in most institutional research contexts. A prototype
KineAssist® has been constructed and has received US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) classification and institutional review board clearance
for initial human studies. The acceptance of KineAssist® will ultimately depend
on improved patient outcomes, the use of this new tool by therapists, the ease
of use of the system, and the recognition of the unique value it brings to
therapeutic recovery.
Keywords device development, gait and
balance training, robotics
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