IC31: Post-Stroke Gait Assessment And Incorporating Robotic Exo-Suit Technology To Maximize Outcomes

While recent research has identified a number of gait impairments specific to the post-stroke population, including compensatory strategies and propulsion asymmetry, the treating clinician has limited access to the force plates and other accessories of motion capture labs that are currently utilized to objectify these published gait analyses. Additionally, recent research has demonstrated a gap in current treatment strategy post-stroke, letting us know that striving for improved outcomes such as gait speed and 6-minute walk test distance without attention to true recovery of gait mechanics, most importantly propulsion symmetry, can potentially lead to diminished long-term outcomes. This course is intended to help clinicians bridge the gap from research to practice, learning strategies for in-clinic gait analysis and the use of exo-suit technology to address uncovered impairments and maximize functional outcomes in the post-stroke population.