Robot-Assisted Walking Therapy Moves into Full Gear in Korea
Robot-Assisted Walking Therapy Moves into Full Gear in Korea
Korea's introduction of robot-assisted gait training is expected to lend a big hand to those who can no longer walk due to stroke or spinal cord injury.
At 4 p.m., Thursday, December 20, 2012, the SNU Hospital opened a robot-assisted gait rehabilitation center in order to actively harness gait-training robot for rehabilitation of patients with walking disabilities due to stroke or spinal cord injury.
The SNU Hospital, National Rehabilitation Center, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, and Wonju Severance Christian Hospital recently installed four gait-training robots (one robot per hospital) and launched robot-assisted rehabilitation therapy as part of the rehabilitation robot pilot project (Director: Jong-bae Kim) under the auspices of the Ministry of Knowledge & Economy and the Ministry of Health & Welfare.
The gait-training robot functions as a gait training device for those with gait abnormality caused by stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, etc., thereby enabling them to walk without or with less help from medical staffs like a physical therapist.
Gait-training robot leads patients to walk by moving their trunk of the body, hip joint, knees, and ankles, and its sensor captures biological signals so that artificial joint can move two legs. Moreover, the modulated section embedded in the leg joint can minimize the impact load onto the joint, thereby ensuring the maximum gait effects plus joint protection. Gait patterns are programmed beforehand for systematic and repetitive rehabilitation sessions of patients.
If patients continue to remain unmoved, they can lose their gait function. Thus, gait- training robot aims to stimulate the innate control mechanism of central nerve system for the recovery of gait function. It also has the effect to restore muscular paralysis and prevent joint contracture through joint movement.
Gait-training robot is adjustable to different body size of patients. It can adjust the length between joints, namely 350~480mm between hip and knee joints and 353mm~483mm between knee and ankle joints. The gait speed is 0.3~3km/h. Thus, it can be used for gait-training of patients with a height of 155cm~200cm and a weight up to 100kg safely.
“Standing at the forefront of electronics and IT, Korea deserves to take the initiative in rehabilitation robotics worldwide. I think that rehabilitation robotics can become a big hope for those facing walking difficulties,” told Professor Sun Gun Chung, Dept. of Rehabilitation Medicine, SNU Hospital.