Abstract: Since their initial introduction in the early 2000’s, there has been significant progress in the capabilities of robotic exoskeleton technologies. While they initially generated considerable enthusiasm as a rehabilitation therapy for restoring walking after spinal cord injury (SCI), evidence indicates their value for this purpose is limited.  However there are other needs of the SCI population for which exoskeletons hold great promise.  In this talk we will review evidence from research evaluating robotic exoskeletons as interventions to improve walking function after SCI, focusing on whether walking gains achieved in the device translate to meaningful improvements in walking outside the device. To analyze the limited translation from exoskeleton training to real-world walking we will examine how exoskeleton training differs from locomotor training. However, focusing solely on walking recovery may underestimate the broader potential of these technologies.  The most compelling future role for robotic exoskeletons is as mobility technologies that provide meaningful access to upright movement and community mobility for individuals who cannot otherwise walk independently. Achieving this vision will require substantial advances in device design, usability, adaptability, safety, and integration with the real-world environments in which people with SCI live and move.

Bio: Edelle (Edee) Field-Fote, PT, PhD, FAPTA, FASIA holds the positions of Director, Shepherd Center Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Research Program & Hulse Laboratory; Professor, Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine; and Professor of the Practice, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Biological Sciences. With a clinical background as a physical therapist, PhD training in a pre-clinical model of SCI, and post-doctoral training in neurophysiology, Dr. Field-Fote’s 25+ years of SCI research has spanned the breadth from basic/pre-clinical to clinical/translational research related to SCI. She leads a research team dedicated to improving motor function in persons with SCI through the development of clinically accessible neuromodulation and neurorehabilitation approaches informed by the latest neuroscience research and guided by outcomes that have meaning for persons with SCI. Dr. Field-Fote has conducted randomized clinical trials with continuous funding from the NIH since 1997, with other trials in her lab funded by the Department of Defense, the National Institute on Independent Living Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and numerous foundations. She currently serves as Chair of the Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems Project Directors consortium, as lead-PI of the NIH R25-funded program Training in Grantsmanship in Rehabilitation Research, and as Chair of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Clinical Practice Guideline Development Panel for the guidelines Outcomes After Spinal Cord Injury. Dr. Field-Fote is a past Chair of the NIH National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research, past President of the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research, and the 54th McMillan Lecture Award honoree of the American Physical Therapy Association.