Physical therapy ·
Sensor-guided home program lengthens walks after stroke; robot gait training aids breathing in cerebral palsy; reviews temper robot gains
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A randomized trial in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation found that smart insoles, an activity tracker and weekly clinician feedback improved six-minute walk distance after stroke more than home exercise education alone. A crossover trial tied robot-assisted gait training to short-term breathing gains in children with cerebral palsy, while meta-analyses found low-certainty benefits for stroke gait robots and for telerehabilitation in chronic low back pain.
THE DETAILS
- Research Oct 23, 2026In a single-center, assessor-blinded randomized clinical trial at Yongin Severance Hospital in the Republic of Korea, a six-week program combining smart insoles, an activity tracker, a self-report mobile app and weekly clinician feedback, added to standardized home exercise education, improved six-minute walk distance more than education alone (mean difference 23.15 m, 95% CI 6.70 to 39.60; P = .006). Of 120 randomized participants, 110 were analyzed. Gait parameters and isokinetic knee strength did not differ between groups, and mean adherence was about 60%, with concurrent use of the devices declining over time.
- Research Oct 18, 2026In a randomized crossover trial in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 22 children with cerebral palsy at Gross Motor Function Classification System levels III to V completed six weeks of robot-assisted gait training and six weeks of respiratory training, separated by a four-week washout. Gait training produced greater gains in tidal volume (1.32 versus 0.51, P < .001) and minute ventilation (0.44 versus 0.16, P = .006), but the effects largely returned to baseline by the four-week follow-up. No serious adverse events were reported.
- Research Oct 22, 2026An updated systematic review in the Journal of Sport and Health Science pooled 258 reports representing 240 trial-level units comparing lower-limb robot-assisted gait training with conventional training after stroke. Post-intervention estimates favored the robot for Berg Balance Scale scores (mean difference 6.03 points, 95% CI 5.14 to 6.93) and gait speed (0.080 m/s, 95% CI 0.061 to 0.100), but heterogeneity was very high, all prediction intervals included the null and GRADE certainty was low. The authors said the findings argue against interpreting the robots as clinically superior to conventional therapy.Sources: Journal of Sport and Health Science, PubMed
- Research Oct 21, 2026A systematic review and meta-analysis in Science Progress pooled 21 randomized trials with 2,148 participants that compared telerehabilitation with face-to-face rehabilitation or minimal interventions for chronic low back pain. Telerehabilitation was associated with a statistically significant reduction in pain intensity (Hedges' g = -0.37, 95% CI -0.68 to -0.06), with no statistically significant effect on disability or kinesiophobia. Certainty of evidence was low for pain and very low for all other outcomes, and two of three economic evaluations suggested potential cost savings in specific contexts.Sources: Science Progress, PubMed
- Technology Oct 20, 2026Researchers at CHU Dijon Bourgogne in France had 25 people with lower-limb amputation walk on flat ground and slopes in two real-world environments and three immersive virtual reality (VR) environments of increasing complexity, reporting in the Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation. Tolerance was 96.0% (95% CI 79.6% to 99.9%) for flat walking and 95.8% for slope walking. VR reduced walking speed and stride length, particularly in the complex environment, and the authors said the findings support the feasibility and safety of VR-based gait rehabilitation.
The weekly innovation roundup for physical therapy, published every Sunday for the week before; every item links to its sources. Latest physical therapy news · All specialties