ROBOTIC POWER ASSIST TECHNOLOGY:
LOKOMAT
General Overview
Robotic locomotor therapy by an electro-mechanized exoskeleton of the lower limbs.
The Lokomat is a robotic device whose purpose is to re-educate the patient to walk. The system consists of attaching the patient's legs to robotic legs imitating walking motion that will assist by holding the patient in an upright position and
triggering the movements to be performed.
The Lokomat was created to be a high-tech alternative to traditional" re-education.
Source: compilation of YouTube videos ( fair use ) - if you want to remove content contact us at contact@leneurogroupe.org
Main objectives of the method
The main objective of the Lokomat is to reproduce a gesture as naturally as possible, in a repetitive and identical way. The therapist is able to create a customized session for the patient, adapting the exoskeleton in terms of walking speed, weight supported by the patient and, on the contrary, weight compensated by the machine.
The final objective is to restore the patient's ability to walk independently. Finally, the complete support by the machine allows the therapist to focus entirely on the patient and his progression rather than on his standing position.
Specificities of the method
A session lasts about an hour. During this hour, the therapist remains at the patient's side to encourage and guide him/her. The Lokomat allows a very vertical, robotized and therefore repetitive walk, it is this repetition that gives it all its interest compared to a traditional technique. The controlled decrease in passive assistance encourages the patient to participate more, as the sessions progress.
The Lokomat also differs from the manual rehabilitation method in that it provides feedback to the patient by taking into account multiple indicators when the machine is working on them.
Bio-Feedback provides real-time visual feedback on performance: increases patient motivation through active participation (3D environment)
The evaluation module: the exoskeleton is equipped with force sensors at the joints to measure the patient's activity and thus quantify progress and guide rehabilitation
Who is the method for ?
Lokomat is part of a walking rehabilitation process for people suffering from cerebral palsy, hemiplegia or hemiparesis, stroke or trauma related to an accident.
What parents say about it
"My little athlete was struggling but his leg muscles got a lot stronger... The child is "walking" thanks to the machine but also works according to his possibilities in the right position, not on tiptoe, knees inwards and arms in duck... Nelly, the centre director, explained to me that this allows the brain to record the right way to walk what therapists can't do manually. »
"[In the afternoon,] Valentine had Lokomat, a machine that works! ... Valentine's head when he first "walked"! For me it was very moving, for the first time I saw my son standing upright, walking as if he had not had an oxygen problem during my pregnancy and that he was not affected by cerebral palsy..."
"The problem is the price"
For Dr Hervé CARLIER "This is the best thing that can be done today in terms of neural rehabilitation. Arméo Power and Lokomat offer patients the best possible care to increase their chances of recovery. »
For Bernard Hérent, Physiotherapist: "Complementary to the therapist, the repetitive action of the Lokomat and the Arméo Power corresponds to the acts of walking and movement that we cannot reproduce naturally. They really allow us to go further than the gestures of movement".
Scientific references
The effects of Lokomat® on the quality of gait during the rehabilitation of an early phase hemiplegic patient
https://ifpek.centredoc.org/doc_num.php?explnum_id=54
Can Lokomat therapy with children and adolescents be improved? An adaptive clinical pilot trial comparing Guidance force, Path control, and FreeD, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513325/
Remarks or comments?
This work is based on a collaborative approach to sharing research and family experience.
If you have any comments, suggestions for modifications or corrections or clarifications to make, please let us know by email at contact@leneurogroupe.org