NCT07212608

Personalized Post-Stroke Gait Rehabilitation Interventions

Wearable Gait Interventions for Augmenting Paretic Propulsion: Towards Personalized Post-Stroke Gait Rehabilitation

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 22 (actual)
• Sponsor: Boston University Charles River Campus · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 80 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The objective of this study is to understand whether certain post-stroke patient subsets, identified from clinical, biomechanical, and neuromuscular characteristics, preferentially respond to different walking rehabilitation interventions that augment paretic limb propulsion (e.g., soft robotic exosuits or electrical stimulation neuroprostheses). The results of this work could improve post-stroke gait recovery outcomes by informing clinical decision-making to better match patients with rehabilitation devices tailored to their specific gait characteristics.

Detailed description

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability that results in slow, asymmetrical, and inefficient walking. Personalized treatments matching patients to the treatments with which they are most likely to respond are not typical but are necessary to maximize recovery. Post-stroke hemiparesis is commonly associated with reduced paretic limb propulsion that leads to slower, less efficient walking patterns. Our team has developed and tested two rehabilitation technologies targeting paretic propulsion: i) a soft robotic exosuit that uses cables to mechanically assist ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion during walking; ii) a neuroprosthesis that uses functional electrical stimulation (FES) to activate the dorsiflexor and plantarflexor muscles during walking. Both technologies aim to safely improve walking speed and paretic propulsion. The objective of this study is to evaluate if certain post-stroke patient subsets, identified from baseline clinical, biomechanical, and neuromuscular characteristics, preferentially respond to propulsion rehabilitation using soft robotic exosuits or electrical stimulation neuroprostheses. Twenty participants with chronic (\>6 months) stroke will complete one baseline gait evaluation in the laboratory and two gait training sessions: i) an exosuit day and ii) a neuroprosthesis day. Each visit will include walking with/without the respective technology. The primary aim of this study is to identify predictors of a therapeutic response (i.e., improvement in walking speed) to determine whether certain patient subsets preferentially respond to the exosuit or the neuroprosthesis. We will evaluate baseline clinical, biomechanical, and neuromuscular abilities as potential predictors of a response. We hypothesize that a subset of individuals will respond preferentially to each intervention and that baseline measures of gait function will predict responders to each intervention. A secondary aim of this study is to determine the rehabilitation mechanism underlying improved walking speed after walking with the propulsion exosuit and the neuroprosthesis. Improvements in walking speed can be achieved through recovery (e.g., increased propulsion symmetry) or compensation (e.g., increased nonparetic propulsion). We will independently evaluate the underlying biomechanical changes contributing to improvements in speed and metabolic cost. We hypothesize that both the exosuit and neuroprosthesis will promote improved speed via recovery of paretic propulsion.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	Soft robotic exosuit	A soft robotic exosuit is a textile-based system worn on the waist and paretic lower limb that provides assistive torques via cables connecting the front and back of the ankle to anchor points on the shank. The exosuit provides dorsiflexion assistance during swing phase for foot clearance and plantarflexion assistance during stance phase for propulsion delivered synchronously based on integrated sensors detecting the wearer's gait pattern.
DEVICE	Propulsion neuroprosthesis	A neuroprosthesis is a textile-based, surface electrical stimulation system worn on the waist and paretic lower limb that delivers stimulation assistance via electroconductive pads placed on the skin over the target muscles. The neuroprosthesis provides coordinated dorsiflexor stimulation during swing phase for foot clearance and plantarflexor stimulation during stance phase for propulsion, delivered synchronously based on integrated sensors detecting the wearer's gait pattern.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-13
• Primary completion: 2025-04-24
• Completion: 2025-04-24
• First posted: 2025-10-08
• Last updated: 2025-10-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated device study