The Effects of Prolonged Vibrotactile EMG-Based Biofeedback on Ankle Joint Range of Motion During Gait in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy: A Case Series

Aims: The objective of this case series was to examine the feasibility of vibrotactile EMG-based biofeedback (BF) as a home-based intervention tool to enhance sensory information during everyday motor activities and to explore its effectiveness to induce changes in active ankle range of motion during gait in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Ten children ages 6 to 13 years with spastic CP were recruited. Participants wore two EMG-based vibro-tactile BF devices for at least 4 hours per day for 1-month on the ankle and knee joints muscles. The device computed the amplitude of the EMG signal of the target muscle and actuated a silent vibration motor proportional to the magnitude of the EMG. Results: Our results demonstrated the feasibility of the augmented sensory information of muscle activity to induce changes of the active ankle range of motion during gait for 6 children with an increase ranging from 8.9 to 51.6% compared to a one-month period without treatment. Conclusions: Preliminary findings of this case series demonstrate the feasibility of vibrotactile EMG-based BF and suggest potential effectiveness to increase active ankle range of motion, therefore serving as a promising therapeutic tool to improve gait in children with spastic CP.