Effects of Ambulation Training Utilizing an Exoskeleton Robot on Subjects With Spinal Cord Injury

January 5, 2018 updated by: Nai-Hsin Meng, China Medical University Hospital

Evaluation of the Physiological and Psychological Effects of Ambulation Training Utilizing an Exoskeleton Robot on Subjects With Spinal Cord Injury

The present study aims to investigate the effects of ReWalk exoskeleton robot training on various physiological and psychological parameters among subjects with spinal cord injury, including body composition and bone mineral mass, balance ability, bowel and bladder symptoms, severity of pain, psychological well-being, and quality of life. Ten patients with paraplegia caused by spinal cord injury will be recruited from the out-patient clinic of Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the China Medical University hospital. All participants will undergo dual X-ray absorptiometry to evaluate the baseline bone mineral density. Eligible participants will then take ReWalk training sessions comprises of 3 x 1-hour sessions per week for 40 sessions. A comprehensive battery of outcome measures, including body composition and bone mineral mass, balance ability, bowel and bladder symptoms, severity of pain, psychological well-being, and quality of life, will be utilized for comparison after 40 sessions of ReWalk ambulation training.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Unknown

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The loss of upright mobility has a profound effect on the health and quality of life for individuals with a spinal cord injury (SCI). The ReWalk exoskeleton is an FDA-cleared, wearable, computer-controlled exoskeleton robot that enables subjects with SCI to stand and walk using crutches to keep balance. China Medical University Hospital is the second hospital in Taiwan to acquire this relatively new rehabilitation robot. ReWalk exoskeleton not only helps the patients with paraplegia regain their ability to walk, previous studies also suggest that restoration of upright mobility may help mitigate the physical and psychological decline routinely experienced by individuals with SCI.

The present study aims to investigate the effects of ReWalk exoskeleton robot training on various physiological and psychological parameters among subjects with spinal cord injury, including body composition and bone mineral mass, balance ability, bowel and bladder symptoms, severity of pain, psychological well-being, and quality of life. Ten patients with paraplegia caused by spinal cord injury will be recruited from the out-patient clinic of Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the China Medical University hospital. All participants will undergo dual X-ray absorptiometry to evaluate the baseline bone mineral density. Eligible participants will then take ReWalk training sessions comprises of 3 x 1-hour sessions per week for 40 sessions. The first 20 or so hours of training sessions focus on basic ReWalk skills, and the following training sessions focus on advanced ReWalk skills. A comprehensive battery of outcome measures, including body composition and bone mineral mass, balance ability, bowel and bladder symptoms, severity of pain, psychological well-being, and quality of life, will be utilized to obtain an in-depth overview and comparison of the treatment efficacy after 40 sessions of ReWalk ambulation training. The measures include: muscle strength measurements, Berg Balance Scale, modified Functional Reach Test, 10-Meters Walking Test, Timed Up and Go test, the Short Form-36 and Spinal Cord Injury-Quality Of Life questionnaires for health-related quality of life measurement. Dual X-ray absorptiometry will be used to measure the bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, the proximal femoral region and the distal forearms. It will also be used to estimate fat mass and lean body mass of the participants. All the outcome assessments, except for the Timed Up and Go and the 10-Metersr Walking Test, will be performed prior to the first training session and again at the end of the ReWalk ambulation training sessions. Descriptive data will be provided for all demographic parameters and with a mix-design ANOVA analysis employed to compare pre- and post-training conditions for all repeated outcome measures.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
10

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taichung City, Taiwan, 404
        • Recruiting
        • China Medical University Hospial
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Nai-Hsin Meng, M.D.
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Li-Wei Chou, M.D. Ph.D.
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Pei-Yu Yang, M.D.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Between the age of 20-65 years old;
  2. Have paraplegia resulting from thoracic or lumbar spinal cord injury.
  3. At least 6 months after onset of the spinal cord injury
  4. Well motivated and willing to participate 40 hours of ReWalk ambulation training sessions.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Have spinal cord injury neurologic level above T4
  2. Height greater than 190 cm or lower than160 cm
  3. Weight greater than 100 kg
  4. Have osteoporosis (T-score < -2.5)
  5. Deep vein thrombosis
  6. Severe orthostatic hypotension precluding standing and walking training
  7. Pregnancy
  8. Cognitive impairments that would impact on the safe participation in the study
  9. Severe spasticity of lower limbs (Modified Ashworth Scale >3)
  10. Contracture of the ankle, or a knee flexion contracture greater than 10 degrees
  11. Musculoskeletal conditions that affected gait capacity
  12. Co-existence of other neurological diseases

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Exoskeleton robot ambulation training
Ambulation training utilizing an exoskeleton robot
Device: Ambulation training utilizing an exoskeleton robot
Participants undergo 40 hours of ambulation training utilizing an exosksleton robot within 3 months.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
bone mineral density
Time Frame: Change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
bone mineral density of the lumbar spine, the proximal femoral region and the distal forearms, measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry
Change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
SF-36
Time Frame: change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
SF-36 contains 36 items comprising eight subscales: physical functioning (PF), role limitations due to physical problems (RP), bodily pain, general health perceptions (GH), vitality (VT), social functioning (SF), role limitations due to emotional problems (RE), and mental health (MH). All subscales are transformed into a 0-100 scale, with 100 indicating the best status.
change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
Spinal Cord Injury-Quality of Life measurement system
Time Frame: change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training

The SCI-QOL consists of 19 item banks, including the SCI-Functional Index banks, and 3 fixed-length scales measuring physical, emotional, and social aspects of health-related QOL (HRQOL). A description of the score range (and which values are considered to be a better or worse outcome) is not included because it greatly exceeds the 999-character limitation allowed in the box of "descrpition"

Emotional Health Domain:

Positive Affect & Well-Being, Depression, Anxiety, Stigma, Resilience, Grief/Loss, Self-Esteem and Psychological Trauma

Physical-Medical Health Domain:

Skin/Pressure Ulcers Scale, Bladder Complications Scale, Bladder Management Difficulties, Bowel Management Difficulties, Pain Interference and Pain Behavior Scale.

Social Participation Domain:

Ability to Participate in Social Roles and Activities, Satisfaction with Social Roles and Activities, Independence.

SCI-Functional Index banks: Basic Mobility, Ambulation, Fine Motor, Self-Care and Wheelchair activities.
change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
fat mass
Time Frame: change from baseline at 1 week after completion of ambulation training
fat mass measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry
change from baseline at 1 week after completion of ambulation training
lean body mass
Time Frame: change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
lean body mass measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry
change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
Berg Balance Scale
Time Frame: change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training
measuring sitting balance ability; minimum score: 0, maximu score 56; higher values represent a better outcome
change from baseline at 1 week after completion of 40 hours of ambulation training

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
China Medical University Hospital

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Nai-Hsin Meng, M.D., China Medical University, China Medical University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 23, 2017

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
October 31, 2019

Study Completion (Anticipated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 7, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 8, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 14, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 8, 2018

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 5, 2018

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
January 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • DMR-107-085

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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