Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training for Improving Locomotor Function

Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (BWSTT) provides partial body weight support while the patient practices walking on a motorized treadmill.  Training can be done either using manual assistance from physical therapists to assist in reciprocal stepping or using a robotic device that moves the patient's legs in a normal pattern.  BWSTT helps the spinal cord and the brain to relearn the motor patterns associated with walking.



The Hocoma Lokomat® Robotic Ambulation System for body weight supported treadmill training enables the patient to experience longer bouts of repeated reciprocal stepping.  The Lokomat®  offers us precise control over specific features of gait and allows us to measure range of motion, strength, and stiffness.  Like with manual BWSTT, the patient wears a harness and is partially unweighted by overhead cables.  The Lokomat® is attached to the patient's hips and legs by Velcro straps and its motors move the patient's legs over a treadmill to simulate normal walking.



The Lokomat® Robotic Ambulation System has a biofeedback system that lets the patient know, step-by-step, how much they are helping or resisting the robot with the walking process.



If you are chosen and agree to participate in these studies, you will be examined by a physician and a physical therapist to establish the level and severity of your spinal cord lesion.  In addition, you will undergo a series of non-invasive measures including recording of your muscle activity during walking, reflex testing during walking, assessment of muscle strength and stiffness, and recording the activity in your brain using magnetic resonance imaging.

Electromyography (EMG):  EMG determines how the muscles in your legs turn on during treadmill training with body weight support.  Muscle activity is measured using patches on the skin over your leg and mid-trunk muscles.  These patches stick to your skin and are removed after the test.  Wires connected to each patch send information to a computer to record the muscle activity while you walk.

Electrophysiologic Reflex Testing:  You will undergo testing of certain nerve and muscle responses.  The nerve test uses a stimulus to measure the same response which occurs when your knee is tapped with a reflex hammer.  The muscle response test is an electrical signal caused by muscle contractions after nerve stimulation.  We administer a series of brief stimuli to nerves in your legs and record the responses.  This causes your muscle to contract and we record the reaction.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI): For an MRI, you will lie in a large tube and to keep your head very still. Magnetic waves are used to take pictures of your brain while you to try to move your ankles and toes.

Are you interested in participating in one of our studies?  Click Here - Study Participation Criteria