Reliability and validity of using the Lokomat to assess lower limb joint position sense in people with incomplete spinal cord injury

This study investigated whether a robotic device called the Lokomat can reliably and accurately measure a person's sense of joint position in the legs, especially for those with incomplete spinal cord injuries. Proprioception, or joint position sense, is the ability to know where your limbs are in space without looking. The Lokomat was used to move the legs of participants into specific positions, and then the participants were asked to replicate those positions using a joystick. The accuracy of their movements was then measured. The results showed that the Lokomat can reliably measure joint position sense in people with spinal cord injuries, and that it can differentiate between those with and without such injuries.

• 1
  The robot-based assessment test was reliable at the hip and knee in persons with SCI.
• 2
  Hip and knee angle errors in subjects with SCI were significantly greater and more variable than in AB subjects.
• 3
  Error scores were significantly correlated to clinical measure of joint position sense.