Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
Application of Bedside Lower Extremity Rehabilitation Robots in Stroke Rehabilitation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Published on: November 28, 2025
Effectiveness of gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer, with and without functional electric
Raymond K Tong1, Maple F Ng, Leonard S Li
1Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. k.y.tong@polyu.edu.hk
Objective:
To compare the therapeutic effects of conventional gait training (CGT), gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer (EGT), and gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer with functional electric stimulation (EGT-FES) in people with subacute stroke.
Design:
Nonblinded randomized controlled trial.
Setting:
Rehabilitation hospital for adults.
Participants:
Fifty patients were recruited within 6 weeks after stroke onset; 46 of these completed the 4-week training period.
Intervention:
Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 gait intervention groups: CGT, EGT, or EGT-FES. The experimental intervention was a 20-minute session per day, 5 days a week (weekdays) for 4 weeks. In addition, all participants received their 40-minute sessions of regular physical therapy every weekday as part of their treatment by the hospital.
Main Outcome Measures:
Five-meter walking speed test, Elderly Mobility Scale (EMS), Berg Balance Scale, Functional Ambulatory Category (FAC), Motricity Index leg subscale, FIM instrument score, and Barthel Index.
Results:
The EGT and EGT-FES groups had statistically significantly more improvement than the CGT group in the 5-m walking speed test (CGT vs EGT, P=.011; CGT vs EGT-FES, P=.001), Motricity Index (CGT vs EGT-FES, P=.011), EMS (CGT vs EGT, P=.006; CGT vs EGT-FES, P=.009), and FAC (CGT vs EGT, P=.005; CGT vs EGT-FES, P=.002) after the 4 weeks of training. No statistically significant differences were found between the EGT and EGT-FES groups in all outcome measures.
Conclusions:
In this sample with subacute stroke, participants who trained on the electromechanical gait trainer with body-weight support, with or without FES, had a faster gait, better mobility, and improvement in functional ambulation than participants who underwent conventional gait training. Future studies with assessor blinding and larger sample sizes are warranted.
