Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Effects of a wearable proprioceptive stabilizer on kinematics and spatio-temporal gait parameters in young with genetic ataxias

A. Romano, M. Favetta, T. Schirinzi, G. Vasco, S. Summa, S. Minosse, E. Castelli, M. Petrarca; Gait & Posture , Volume 66 , S33 Doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2018.07.152

Genetic ataxias are a degenerative disease of cerebellum, brain stem, and spinal cord, in which gait and limb ataxia are key clinical features. Focal mechanical vibration was found effective in improve limb and gait ataxia in adults with hereditary ataxias. Equistasi® is a medical wearable device composed by nanotechnology fibers that transform body temperature into mechanical able to generate a variation of muscle length of max 0.002 mm. This is a preliminary study to evaluate the effect of Equistasi® focal mechanical vibration on kinematic and spatio-temporal parameters in three young patients with genetic ataxias through 3D gait analysis.