Table 10.
Effects of powered walking on the ankle kinematics and gait pattern of impaired patients
| Ref. | Ankle RoM | Drop foot occurrence | Asymmetry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Awad, 2017 [63] (Str) | ↑ Df in swing (4.78 deg) w.r.t. U | / | / |
| Awad, 2017 [64] (Str), tethered | ↑ Df in swing (5.33 deg) w.r.t. U | / | ↓ in peak propulsion w.r.t. U (20%) |
| ↑ peak propulsion (11%) w.r.t. U | ↓ in propulsion impulse w.r.t. U (19%) | ||
| Awad, 2017 [64] (Str), untethered | ↑ Df in swing (4.9 deg) w.r.t. U | / | ↓ in propulsion w.r.t. U (16.3%) |
| ↑ peak propulsion (13%) w.r.t. U | |||
| ↑ propulsion impulse (14%) w.r.t. U | |||
| Bae, 2015 [26] (Str) | / | / | ↓ in step time by 6% w.r.t. N |
| ↓ in stance time by 4% w.r.t. N | |||
| ↓ in propulsion by 7% w.r.t. N | |||
| Bae, 2018 [27] (Str) | / | / | ↓ in positive body CoM power by 39% w.r.t. U |
| ↓ in ankle power by 40% w.r.t. U | |||
| Blaya, 2004 [51] (Dfi) | ↑ Df in swing (37%-200%) for all speeds w.r.t. A; ↑ Pf in stance (25%-89%) for all speeds w.r.t. A | eliminated in P and A at slow and self-selected speed; at fast speed ↓ by 67% in P w.r.t. A | ↓ in step length w.r.t. A and N (up to 100%); ↓ in step time w.r.t. A (up to 75%) and N (up to 94%) |
| Sawicki, 2006 [65] (iSCI) | ↑ PO angle w.r.t. U (up to 14.5 deg) and N (up to 10.7 deg) for all speeds in therapist-control, results in patient-control lower than in therapist-control; | / | / |
| better improvements at lower speeds | |||
| Shorter, 2011 [52] (Pfi) | kinematics minimally affected by PAFO (slightly ↓ Df) | / | / |
| Shorter, 2011 [53] (Pfi) | ↓ Df | / | shifted from 2% longer right step in N to 2% and 6% longer left step in U and P |
| Shorter, 2011 [53] (Dfi) | corrected RoM during swing; ↓ RoM in late stance | reduced | shifted from 1% longer right step in N to 4% and 2% longer left step in U and P; eliminated for step time |
| Takahashi, 2015 [39] (Str) | RoM more dorsiflexed in U and P w.r.t. N | / | / |
| Yeung, 2017 [54] (Str) | no improvements in PO | reduced | / |
The ankle kinematics, occurrence of drop foot, and gait symmetry are compared between the following conditions: walking with powered assistive PAFOs (P), unpowered condition (U), walking with a conventional AFO (A), or walking without devices (N)
Dfi, Pfi: Dorsiflexion-/plantarflexion-impaired patients; iSCI: Incomplete spinal cord injury patients; Str: Stroke patients; Df, Pf: Dorsiflexion and plantarflexion; PO: Push-off; CoM: Center of mass