ORIGINAL RESEARCH

The use of the BalanceTutor rehabilitation treadmill for balance and gait recovery in poststroke patients

Sergeenko EYu1, Volovets SA2, Darinskaya LYu2, Zhitareva IV3, Zhuravleva AI4, Butorina AV5, Yashinina YuA2, Volkova OV2
About authors

1 Department of Rehabilitology and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Continuing Professional Education Faculty,
Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

2 Shvetsova Research and Care Center for Medical and Social Rehabilitation of the Disabled, Moscow, Russia

3 Department of Medical Cybernetics and Informatics, Biomedical Faculty,
Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

4 Department of Physical Therapy, Sports Medicine and Medical Rehabilitation,
Russian Academy of Continuing Medical Education of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia

5 Department of Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine, Faculty of Pediatrics,
Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia

Correspondence should be addressed: Lubov Darinskaya
ul. Lodochnaya, d. 15, korp. 2, Moscow, Russia, 125362; ur.liam@58ayansayopseb

About paper

Contribution of the authors to this work: Sergeenko EYu — analysis of literature, research planning, data interpretation, drafting of a manuscript; Volovets SA — research planning, data interpretation; Darinskaya LYu — analysis of literature, data collection and interpretation, drafting of a manuscript; Zhitareva IV — data analysis and interpretation, drafting of a manuscript; Zhuravleva AI, Butorina AV — research planning, data analysis and interpretation; Yashinina YuA, Volkova OV — data collection and interpretation. All authors participated in editing of the manuscript.

Received: 2017-06-22 Accepted: 2017-06-26 Published online: 2017-07-20
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State-of-the-art rehabilitation equipment offers a wide range of static and dynamic exercise programs for fall prevention by improving balance control during standing or walking. Our study aimed to provide a rationale for the use of the BalanceTutor rehabilitation treadmill to improve static and dynamic balance in patients who had suffered an acute cerebrovascular accident. The study included 72 patients with postural balance impairments in their late recovery period. In the experimental group, center of pressure (COP) sway area and COP velocity decreased significantly, measured with patients’ eyes opened (р = 0.0476 and р = 0.0176, respectively) and closed (р = 0.0072 and р = 0.0037, respectively). At the end of the rehabilitation program, we observed a statistically significant increase in the electromyographic signal amplitude on the stroke-affected side of the body in m. peroneus longus (р = 0.0117), consistent with the regained muscle strength in the lower extremities of the affected body side measured by McPeak and Veyss 6-point scales. Tinetti gait and balance scores also improved (р = 0.0513 and р = 0.0274, respectively). Thus, the use of the BalanceTutor treadmill in the rehabilitation of poststroke patients proves to be effective and reasonable.

Keywords: acute cerebrovascular accident, postural balance, equipment for improving static and dynamic balance

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