Assessment of the Psychophysical State During Rehabilitation Treatment With Lokomat

The use of robotic technologies in rehabilitation is an increasingly widespread practice in the health sector: the Lokomat is a medical device intended for walking rehabilitation, consisting of an exoskeleton, a treadmill and a harness that supports the body weight and acts as a safety tool This technology is useful in the rehabilitation of pathologies such as prenatal stroke, brain injury, paraplegia, multiple sclerosis and other motor, orthopedic and neurological problems. During these treatments, the psychological / emotional component of the patient is not properly considered and the success of the treatment remains focused on the motor-rehabilitation level.

The management of subjective-experiential aspects remains in the hand of clinical figures (primarily physiotherapists) who have no tools for objective assessment other than their sensitivity. However, considering the experience is fundamental for the success of the therapy: this happens especially in the pediatric field, where clinical results improve significantly when children start therapy with a relaxed and positive mental state.

The aim of this project is to investigate the rehabilitation experience of patients who perform gait rehabilitation by menas of the Lokomat system, considering the relationship between physiological parameters and moods. Therefore, the main goal is to monitor the patient's psychophysical condition before, during and after the rehabilitation activity, during the different sessions. This will allow describing, with qualitative and quantitative data, the user experience of the patient who undergoes a therapeutic treatment with the Lokomat.