Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 25, 2026
Training Persons with Spinal Cord Injury to Ambulate Using a Powered Exoskeleton
Published on: June 16, 2016
Effects of Performance-Based Training on Gait and Balance in Individuals With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury
Brian T Neville1, Donal Murray1, Kerry B Rosen1
1Department of Rehabilitation Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia.
Objective:
To determine changes in balance and gait following a task-specific, performance-based training protocol for overground locomotor training (OLT) in individuals with motor-incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI).
Design:
Convenience sample, prepilot and postpilot study.
Setting:
Human performance research laboratory.
Participants:
Adults (N=15; 12 men and 3 women; mean age [y] ± SD, 41.5±16.9), American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale C or D, >6 months post-spinal cord injury.
Interventions:
Two 90-minute OLT sessions per week over 12 to 15 weeks. OLT sessions were built on 3 principles of motor learning: practice variability, task specificity, and progressive overload (movement complexity, resistance, velocity, volume). Training used only voluntary movements without body-weight support, robotics, electrical stimulation, or bracing. Subjects used ambulatory assistive devices as necessary.
Main Outcome Measures:
Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Spinal Cord Injury Functional Ambulation Inventory (SCI-FAI) gait parameters, spatiotemporal measures of gait (step length, step width, percent stance, stance:swing ratio) from 7 participants who walked across a pressure-sensitive walkway.
Results:
Fourteen participants completed the OLT protocol and 1 participant completed 15 sessions due to scheduled surgery. The BBS scores showed a mean improvement of 4.53±4.09 (P<.001). SCI-FAI scores showed a mean increase of 2.47±3.44 (P=.01). Spatiotemporal measures of gait showed no significant changes.
Conclusion:
This pilot demonstrated improvements in balance and selected gait characteristics using a task-specific, performance-based OLT for chronic iSCI.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Spinal Cord
01:54The Spinal Cord
01:10Spinal Cord: Information Processing
Sensory Information Processing
Sensory information processing begins at the sensory receptors located in the skin and other tissues, which detect somatic sensory stimuli such as touch, temperature, or pain. These receptors function as catalysts, initiating...
01:25Acid-Base Balance
When the pH of arterial blood rises above 7.45, it results in a condition called alkalosis. Conversely, a drop below 7.35 leads to...
01:15Spinal Cord: Gross Anatomy
01:29Disorders of Acid-Base Balance
Respiratory Acidosis and Alkalosis
Respiratory acidosis occurs due to an increase in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide PCO2 in the blood. It often arises from shallow breathing or impaired gas exchange caused by...