{"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-28050/v2","title":"The Kickstart Walk Assist system for improving balance and walking function in stroke survivors: a feasibility study","abstract":"Abstract Background: Compared with traditional physical therapy for stroke patients, lower extremity exoskeletons can provide patients with greater endurance and more repeatable and controllable training, which can reduce the therapeutic burden of the therapist. However, most exoskeletons are expensive, heavy or require active power to be operated. Therefore, a lighter, easy to wear, easy to operate, low-cost technology for gait rehabilitation in stroke survivors would be a welcome opportunity for stroke survivors, caregivers and clinicians. One such device is the Kickstart Walk Assist system and the purpose of this study was to determine feasibility of using this unpowered exoskeleton device in a sample of stroke survivors. Methods: Thirty stroke survivors were enrolled in the study and experienced walking with the Kickstart exoskeleton device that provided spring-loaded assistance during gait. After 5 days of wearing the exoskeleton, participants were evaluated in the two states of wearing and not wearing the exoskeleton. Outcome measures included: a) gait measures, b) balance measures and c) exoskeleton-use feedback questionnaire. Results: In comparison to not wearing the device, wearing the Kickstart Walk Assist system, weight bearing asymmetry was reduced. The time spent on the 10-meter walk test was reduced, but there was no difference in the timed-up-and-go test (TUGT). Gait analysis data showed reduction in step time and double support time. Stroke survivors were positive about the Kickstart Walk Assist system’s ability to improve their balance, speed and gait. In addition, their confidence level and willingness to use the device was also positive. Conclusions: These findings show the feasibility of using the Kickstart Walk Assist system for improving walking performance in stroke survivors. Our future goal is to perform a longer duration study with more comprehensive pre- and post-testing in a larger sample of stroke survivors.","journal":"Research Square","year":2020,"id":134636,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9496,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2020-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":578428,"name":"Takashi Sado","orcid":"0000-0002-8950-1789","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":578429,"name":"Wenli Wang","orcid":"0000-0002-2161-4306","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":578879,"name":"Jiawen Gao","orcid":null,"position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":241787,"name":"Yichao Zhao","orcid":"0000-0002-2884-8105","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":578430,"name":"Qi Qi","orcid":"0000-0002-1135-0722","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":475302,"name":"Mukul Mukherjee","orcid":"0000-0001-9653-0556","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":578878,"name":"Jiajia Yao","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":43,"raw_metadata":{"citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-07-18T23:16:27.963294Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}