Walking rehabilitation treatment using advanced robots improves daily life performance by 39% on average
Feb 05, 2025
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Recently, various auxiliary equipment, including robots, have been actively developed to enhance the effectiveness of exercise therapy.
Meanwhile, Korean researchers analyzed and announced the effect of Robot Assisted Gait Training (RAGT). Patients who received walking rehabilitation training with robotic assistance showed an average increase in their daily life performance ability (MBI, Modified Barhel Index) by 38.6%, showing a therapeutic effect.
A team led by Professor Park Joong-hyun of Yonsei University's Gangnam Severance Hospital's rehabilitation medicine department began research to confirm the usefulness and stability of robot-assisted walking training among early rehabilitation treatment methods that play an important role in recovery after spinal surgery.
The research team, consisting of three rehabilitation medical specialists and two physical therapists, targeted 32 people who underwent spinal surgery and five physical therapists at Gangnam Severance Hospital from June to December 2023.
The research team applied robotic assisted walking training to patients, consisting of a total of five treatment sessions. Robot-assisted walking training included movements such as standing, balancing, walking on a flat floor, and walking up and down stairs. After the end of the training, the research team evaluated the functional walking category, the modified Badel index (MBI) walking category, and the satisfaction of patients and physical therapists through a survey. Patients entered robotic assisted walking training with an average of approximately 18 days (17.91 ± 9.76 days) after surgery and were successfully treated with no specific adverse events.
As a result of the study, the functional ambulation categories (FAC) used to evaluate and classify patient walking ability rose significantly from 2.65±1.21 points before entering robot assisted walking training to 3.78±0.71 points after completion of training (P=0.006).
The modified Badel index (MBI), which measured how easy life activities became after receiving robot-assisted walking training, showed a drastic change. Before entering training, it showed 7.69±2.71 points, but after the end of rehabilitation training, it showed an average improvement of 38.6% with 10.66±2.90 (P<0.001).
The research team surveyed the satisfaction of patients on robot-assisted walking training. The measurement was carried out on a 5-point scale. Patients showed 3.30±0.79 points for robot use, 3.72±0.85 points for assistant walking training using robots, and 3.08±0.84 points for overall hospital treatment. Satisfaction with the reduction of fear of falling was measured the highest during assistant walking training using robots, and supplements were left that pain and discomfort management were needed when changing posture.
As a result of surveying physical therapists on the effectiveness of robot-using assisted walking training, safety (3.50±0.61), work environment impact (2.80±0.67), and overall satisfaction (3.0±0.65) were shown.
Professor Park Joong-hyun, who led the study, said "This paper is of great significance in that it developed a specific protocol for robot assisted walking training (RAGT) for the first time in Korea and applied it to the physical therapy site to clearly confirm its effectiveness." In addition, "As robot-assisted walking training shows significant results, continuous protocol improvement, customized robot development, and effectiveness verification must be constantly continued to be applied as more effective rehabilitation treatments."
This paper is published in the latest issue of the SCIE journal 『Frontiers in Medicine" under the title 『Development of Robot-Aided Walking Rehabilitation Training Protocols" after Spinal Surgery』.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
