A Human Interactive Hybrid FES-Robotic System Applicable to Improvement of Foot Drop after Stroke: Case Report of a Patient with Chronic Stroke

The purpose of this case report is to present and to assess a new exercise therapy using an intelligent robotic system endowed by the functional electrical stimulation (FES) for gait improvement in a person with foot drop due to stroke. The subject was a 30-year-old man who had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke patient 8 years ago. He had gotten all proper conventional physical therapies, yet suffered from right foot drop which affected significantly on the gait quality. The patient wore the FES-robotic system on his impaired ankle and walked about 50 strides in each therapy session. During each gait cycle, the subject voluntarily determined the starting times of the dorsiflexion and plantarflexion of the affected ankle through toughing a sensor. Three clinical tests including Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), and Mini Balance Evaluation System Test (Mini-BESTest) were conducted. All related quantitative indexes increased after four-month exercise therapy. It proves the improvement of the gait quality in the patient after getting the proposed exercise therapy using the implemented FES-robotic system.