Trial reportJournal of rehabilitation medicine2025
Influence of gait-synchronized functional electrical stimulation during exoskeleton-assisted ambulation on cardiorespiratory outcomes in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury.
Trial report in Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate the impact of gait-synchronized functional electrical stimulation during exoskeleton-assisted ambulation on cardiorespiratory demand in individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury.
designCross-sectional study employing a randomized crossover arrangement of measurements.
participantsConvenience sample of 11 individuals with chronic incomplete spinal cord injury and partial walking ability.
methodsParticipants completed 2 x 6-min walking tests (6MWTs) with the EksoNR, 1 with and 1 with-out gait-synchronized functional electrical stimulation targeting gait-related muscles in a randomized order. Cardiorespiratory and metabolic parameters were measured breath-by-breath via ergospirometry. The primary outcome was oxygen consumption (V̇O2/kg). Secondary outcomes included further cardiovascular and metabolic parameters. Data from the final 2 min of each 6MWT were analysed using linear mixed-effect models.
resultsV̇O2/kg increased by 6% with functional electrical stimulation compared with exoskeleton-assisted ambulation alone (15.07 ± 4.11 vs 14.21 ± 3.61 mL·min-¹·kg-¹, p = 0.02). Heart rate, ventilation, and energy expenditure were also elevated (p < 0.05), while breathing frequency, respiratory exchange ratio, distance, and perceived exertion remained unchanged. Inter-individual differences in V̇O2/kg were not explained by stimulation amplitude (r = 0.36, p = 0.27).
conclusionAdding functional electrical stimulation to exoskeleton-assisted gait therapy consistently increased cardiorespiratory demand, potentially enhancing training intensity. Further research assessing long-term clinical impact is required.
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