Clinical Research Directory

Powered Assist Hip Exoskeleton to Improve Ambulation in Severe Lung Disease

Chronic respiratory disease (CRD) is among the most prevalent and growing diseases worldwide with disabling consequences. Many with a compromised respiratory system cannot support the metabolic energy demands of walking causing them to walk slowly and stop often. Those with CRD could receive substantial benefit from a powered wearable exoskeleton device that assumes part of the energy of walking. Assisting the legs will lower the metabolic energy demands, and therefore the ventilation required for exercise, thereby allowing them to walk faster and further. Proposed is a series of single-case experiments comparing walking endurance with and without a powered hip exoskeleton assist. The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of an exoskeleton on walking endurance in ventilatory limited patients with CRD. An exoskeleton could be a novel immediate and long term strategy to augment walking as part of the spectrum of pulmonary rehabilitation and community reintegration.

Severe Lung Disease in Childhood

Only little information exists about the long term consequences of having severe lung disease in childhood. The patient population is heterogenous and the prognostic markers are few. This observational study will investigate which parameters that can be used to predict the outcome of having severe lung disease in childhood.