Horseback riding (hippotherapy) has been shown to improve balance in children with CP. However, this beneficial therapy is not available for a majority of patients because of limited access to horses, weather conditions, and the relatively high cost due to the need for multiple professional staff during a hippotherapy session. As a result, there is a need to develop a novel robotic system to make this type of therapy more widely available for children with CP. We propose to test whether providing controlled 3D movement (similar to that of a horse) astride a cable-driven robotic system will improve dynamic balance and walking function in children with CP.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Ming Wu, PhD from the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
w-ming@northwestern.edu

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