Kinesiological Gait Parameter Changes in Two Incomplete Spinal Cord Injured Patients Due to Hybrid Arm and Leg Cycling Therapy – Pilot Study

We studied the influence of hybrid FES cycling (controlled voluntarily by the arms and by Functional Electrical Stimulation in the paralyzed legs) training supplemented rehabilitation on the walking ability of two incomplete spinal cord injured participants. The training lasted 12 weeks with 2 sessions per week. We performed gait assessment before and after the training. We measured the kinematics and muscle activities of the patients’ lower limbs. We calculated the knee and ankle joint angle ranges and plotted the average time normalized profile of the muscle activities. Knee muscle activities increased from the beginning to the end of the training. At the end of the training, the range of the knee and ankle angles for the first participant increased, and for the second participant became more balanced comparing the sides. These results support the assumption that hybrid FES cycling training helps to improve spinal cord injured participants’ walking ability.