Robot Walking Rehabilitation in Parkinson's Disease

The specific aims of this project are: 1. to verify whether the robotics lower limb treatment with body weight support is more effective than the treadmill treatment in the reduction of motor impairment in PD or PSP patients, and to improve the quality of the gait and the endurance; 2. to analyze possible improvements in terms of physiological biomechanical gait through analysis of kinematics , kinetics and EMG evaluation; 3. to analyze possible improvements in terms of reduction of instable posture and movements , which can represent a reduction of the risk of fall typical of these subjects; 4. to evaluate the kinematic, kinetic and EMG quantitative data during selected movements (gait, posture, ) compared with age matched reference data; 5. to investigate the stability of the effects of robot-assisted treatment at 4/6 months follow-up in terms of Quality of Life (QoL). A first goal of this project is to investigate the differences in improvement of the quality and safety of the gait (motor performance and functional recovery) through kinematic/kinetic and EMG parameters (Change in Step Length, Change in Gait Velocity and Change in Stride Time Variability, 3D joints kinematics, ground reaction forces, joint kinetics, muscle activation,) and traditional clinical scales in Parkinson's patients. The second goals is aimed at identifying possible advantages in the QoL of patients undergoing such a kind of rehabilitation treatment and at investigating novel methods enabling lower limb functional recovery, leading to wide potential for regaining personal independence. The third goal is to analyze direct cost savings associated with the use of such technologies, measured as direct, indirect and intangible costs, through specific HTA procedures.