Robot suit helps MS patients walk again – small study shows promise

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Male or female, between 18 and 65 years of age * Confirmed diagnosis of MS * Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) de Kurtzke from 6.0 to 7.0 * Able to verticalize on a daily basis * Stable course of disease-modifying therapy over the past 6 months * Clinical comorbidity asymptomatic (i.e., no underlying cardiovascular disease) * Height: between approximately 1.60 and 1.90 m. * Willingness to visit the Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia (CEMCAT) for testing and training. * Gait disorder conditioned by paresis or hemiparesis associated with ataxia or sensory problems * Patient having given written consent Atalante is able to accommodate the following limb lengths: * Thigh: 380-460mm * Distance between the ground and the joint space of the knee (to be measured while wearing the shoes they intend to wear with Atalante): * 457-607mm for patient with an ankle dorsiflexion ≥ 16° * 457-577mm for patient with an ankle dorsiflexion between 13° et 16° * 457-567mm for patient with an ankle dorsiflexion between 10° et 13° * 457-557mm for patient with an ankle dorsiflexion between 0° and 10° * Hip with less or equal to 460mm when seated * Maximum weight:90 kg Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnancy * Starting or switching from fampridine (Fampyra®) in the last 4 weeks * Height and weight outside the secure standard of safe use, described in the safety guides * Contraindications to training with Atalante (eg, bone instability, history of osteoporosis or osteoporotic fractures) * Subjects under Corticosteroids treatment or relapse * Changes in disease-modifying and symptomatic therapy for MS during the study period * Subjects with psychiatric or cognitive comorbidities that may interfere with the trial * Whose joint centers cannot be aligned Atalante's * Ranges of motion below: * Knee: 5° extension, 110° flexion * Ankle: 0° dorsiflexion, 9° plantar flexion, 18° inversion and eversion * Hip: 115° flexion, 15° extension, 17° abduction, 10° adduction, 10° * medial rotation, 20° lateral rotation * Severe spasticity (greater than Ashworth 3) or uncontrolled clonus * Severe concurrent medical diseases: infections, circulatory, heart or lung, pressure sores * Active implantable medical device