Robot-driven Spinal Epidural Stimulation Compared with Conventional Stimulation in Adult Spinalized Rats

This study explores a new method of epidural stimulation for spinal cord injury rehabilitation using a robot-driven system. This approach is compared to conventional continuous stimulation. The robot detects the rat's pelvic position and adjusts the timing of stimulation accordingly, aiming to improve weight support and balance. Rats treated with robot-driven stimulation showed better recovery in terms of hindlimb weight support, walking stability, and overall function compared to those receiving conventional stimulation.

• 1
  Robot-driven epidural stimulation led to significantly greater improvements in AOB scores compared to conventional stimulation and control groups.
• 2
  Rats in the robot-driven stimulation group exhibited better walking stability and precision, with minimal lateral deviation from the field center.
• 3
  The robot-driven stimulation group showed a significant trend of downward robot contribution, indicating improved self body weight support over time.