Comparing Walking-Related Everyday Life Tasks of Children with Gait Disorders in a Virtual Reality Setup With a Physical Setup: Cross-Sectional Noninferiority Study.

Background: A frequent rehabilitation goal for children with gait disorders is to practice daily-life walking activities. Unfortunately, these are often difficult to practice in a conventional therapeutic setting. Virtual reality (VR) with head-mounted displays (HMDs) could be a promising approach in neurorehabilitation to train such activities in a safe environment.

Test-retest reliability of upper limb robotic exoskeleton assessments in children and youths with brain lesions.

In children with congenital or acquired brain lesions, impaired upper limb function can affect independence. Assessing upper limb function is important for planning and evaluating neurorehabilitative interventions. Robotic devices increase measurement-objectivity and enable measuring parameters reflecting more complex motor functions.

Virtual Reality as a Therapy Tool for Walking Activities in Pediatric Neurorehabilitation: Usability and User Experience Evaluation.

Background: Many essential walking activities in daily life, such as crossing a street, are challenging to practice in conventional therapeutic settings. Virtual environments (VEs) delivered through a virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) would allow training such activities in a safe and attractive environment. Furthermore, the game-like character and high degree of immersion in these applications might help maintain or increase children's motivation and active participation during the rehabilitation process.

DO YOUTHS WITH NEUROMOTOR DISORDER AND THEIR THERAPISTS PREFER A MIXED OR VIRTUAL REALITY HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY?

Objective: To evaluate the usability of 2 head-mounted displays in youths undergoing neurorehabilitation; a mixed reality head-mounted display and a virtual reality head-mounted display.

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Patients: Thirteen youths (age range 7.

Contextual interference in children with brain lesions: a pilot study investigating blocked vs. random practice order of an upper limb robotic exergame.

Introduction: Evidence about contextual interference in children with brain lesions when practising motor tasks is lacking. Our main objective was to evaluate the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing blocked with random practice order of an upper limb robotic exergame to improve reaching in children with neuromotor disorders with a pilot trial.

Methods: We recruited children with brain lesions and impaired upper limb functions who underwent a 3-week schedule that consisted of baseline assessments, intervention period (participants were randomised to a blocked or random order group), and follow-up assessment.

Wearable Sensor-Based Real-Time Gait Detection: A Systematic Review.

Gait analysis has traditionally been carried out in a laboratory environment using expensive equipment, but, recently, reliable, affordable, and wearable sensors have enabled integration into clinical applications as well as use during activities of daily living. Real-time gait analysis is key to the development of gait rehabilitation techniques and assistive devices such as neuroprostheses. This article presents a systematic review of wearable sensors and techniques used in real-time gait analysis, and their application to pathological gait.

Contextual interference in children with brain lesions: protocol of a pilot study investigating blocked vs. random practice order of an upper limb robotic exergame.

Background: If adults practice several motor tasks together, random practice leads to better transfer and retention compared to blocked practice. Knowledge about this contextual interference (CI) effect could be valuable to improve neurorehabilitation of children. We present the protocol of a randomised controlled pilot study investigating the feasibility of blocked practice vs.

First validation of a novel assessgame quantifying selective voluntary motor control in children with upper motor neuron lesions.

The question whether novel rehabilitation interventions can exploit restorative rather than compensatory mechanisms has gained momentum in recent years. Assessments measuring selective voluntary motor control could answer this question. However, while current clinical assessments are ordinal-scaled, which could affect their sensitivity, lab-based assessments are costly and time-consuming.

From the Representativeness of Sampled Odors to an Olfactive Camera.

Although representativeness is often a prerequisite when sampling odors, the methods used have never been assessed from the analytical and sensory perspective simultaneously. We validate several critical innovations in the methods used to sample odors, starting with a previously developed static-and-trapped headspace (S&T-HS) cell, to minimize sorptive biases and allow for thermodesorption of trapped odors. The addition of a desorption oven allows for restoration and testing of odors sampled by not only S&T-HS but also other techniques (solid-phase microextraction, headspace sorptive extraction, purge-and-trap headspace).

Robot-assisted arm assessments in spinal cord injured patients: a consideration of concept study.

Robotic assistance is increasingly used in neurological rehabilitation for enhanced training. Furthermore, therapy robots have the potential for accurate assessment of motor function in order to diagnose the patient status, to measure therapy progress or to feedback the movement performance to the patient and therapist in real time. We investigated whether a set of robot-based assessments that encompasses kinematic, kinetic and timing metrics is applicable, safe, reliable and comparable to clinical metrics for measurement of arm motor function.

Increasing motivation in robot-aided arm rehabilitation with competitive and cooperative gameplay.

Background: Several strategies have been proposed to improve patient motivation and exercise intensity during robot-aided stroke rehabilitation. One relatively unexplored possibility is two-player gameplay, allowing subjects to compete or cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal. In order to explore the potential of such games, we designed a two-player game played using two ARMin arm rehabilitation robots.

Energy efficiency increase in a chemical production site.

Sustainability has become a key factor for the chemical industry. One element of sustainability is energy efficiency in manufacturing processes. This article illustrates the strategic energy initiatives of a leading global operating company and the implementation of its elements into practice.

Assist-as-needed path control for the PASCAL rehabilitation robot.

Adults and children with neurological disorders often require rehabilitation therapy to improve their arm motor functions. Complementary to conventional therapy, robotic therapy can be applied. Such robots should support arm movements while assisting only as much as needed to ensure an active participation of the patient.

Estimating the patient's contribution during robot-assisted therapy.

Robot-assisted therapy has become increasingly common in neurorehabilitation. Sophisticated controllers have been developed for robots to assist and cooperate with the patient. It is difficult for the patient to judge to what extent the robot contributes to the execution of a movement.

Virtual reality aided training of combined arm and leg movements of children with CP.

Cerebral palsy (CP) occurs in over 2 out of 1000 live births and can impair motor control and cognition. Our goal was to create a robotic rehabilitation environment that mimics real-life situations by allowing simultaneous exercise of upper and lower limbs. We chose to use the Lokomat as a gait robot and added a novel removable arm robot, called PASCAL (pediatric arm support robot for combined arm and leg training), that was integrated into the Lokomat environment.

Versatile robotic interface to evaluate, enable and train locomotion and balance after neuromotor disorders.

Central nervous system (CNS) disorders distinctly impair locomotor pattern generation and balance, but technical limitations prevent independent assessment and rehabilitation of these subfunctions. Here we introduce a versatile robotic interface to evaluate, enable and train pattern generation and balance independently during natural walking behaviors in rats. In evaluation mode, the robotic interface affords detailed assessments of pattern generation and dynamic equilibrium after spinal cord injury (SCI) and stroke.

Bioequivalence, safety, and tolerability of imatinib tablets compared with capsules.

Purpose: Imatinib (Glivec) has been established as a highly effective therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal tumors. The recommended daily dosage of 400-600 mg requires simultaneous intake of up to six of the current 100-mg capsules. Due to the need to swallow multiple capsules per dose, there is a potential negative impact on treatment adherence; therefore, a new imatinib 400-mg film-coated tablet has been developed.

Effect of rifampicin on the pharmacokinetics of imatinib mesylate (Gleevec, STI571) in healthy subjects.

Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the influence of CYP3A induction with rifampicin on imatinib (Gleevec) exposure.

Methods: The study employed a single center, single-sequence design. A group of 14 healthy male and female subjects received imatinib as a single 400 mg oral dose on two occasions: on study day 1 and on study day 15.