A Novel Scheme for Speed Variation of a Robotic Cane to Improve Step Length Symmetry during Overground Walking

A Novel Scheme for Speed Variation of a Robotic Cane to Improve Step Length Symmetry during Overground Walking | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Novel Scheme for Speed Variation of a Robotic Cane to Improve Step Length Symmetry during Overground Walking Hosu Lee, Junyeong Lee, Hyunggi Park, Min-kyun Oh, Jungwon Yoon This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 39 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Gait symmetry is a vital index for improving and evaluating the walking ability of patients with hemiplegia. This is not only related to walking balance but also increases unnecessary energy consumption, causing serious damage to the musculoskeletal system. The restoration of step length symmetry (SLS) is one of the gait parameters targeted for rehabilitation and can be easily accessed and manipulated in the clinic. Therefore, we proposed a novel scheme based on a speed variation method (SVM) using a robotic haptic cane (HC) to improve SLS on overground walking. To evaluate the proposed method and check protocols for a patient study, we conducted an experiment to lengthen the left step length of 24 healthy young participants using positive, negative, and positive & negative SVM. Additionally, we examined its feasibility in one stroke patient. As a result of the healthy subjects’ experiment, walking speed and the left step length ratio significantly increased with positive and positive & negative SVM while maintaining walking balance. Results from the patient pilot test were similar to those of the healthy subjects, with improved gait balance. However, swing phase symmetry (SWS) also improved. Furthermore, the patient was sensitive to the baseline HC speed and Negative SVM. In the future, we plan to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method through experiments with stroke patients and explore the relationship between walking speed and the ratio of positive & negative SVM. Physical sciences/Engineering Health sciences/Health care Health sciences/Medical research Health sciences/Neurology Rehabilitation Robotics Asymmetry Haptics Gait Assistance Stroke Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 12 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 08 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 07 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 06 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 05 Sep, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 05 Sep, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 05 Sep, 2025 Editor invited by journal 05 Sep, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 04 Sep, 2025 First submitted to journal 04 Sep, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7509289","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":512115048,"identity":"50d8bd79-3793-4159-ad52-3aa791d4f0e6","order_by":0,"name":"Hosu Lee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Gyeongsang National University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hosu","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":512115049,"identity":"9f953a25-2008-4ece-bf0c-a7276e0a713e","order_by":1,"name":"Junyeong Lee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Junyeong","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":512115050,"identity":"eea48322-9da0-4e6f-acc0-ed8b93cd8734","order_by":2,"name":"Hyunggi Park","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Gyeongsang National University Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hyunggi","middleName":"","lastName":"Park","suffix":""},{"id":512115051,"identity":"3db8148a-6c39-4ebf-8a45-4488902840cb","order_by":3,"name":"Min-kyun Oh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Gyeongsang National University Hospital","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Min-kyun","middleName":"","lastName":"Oh","suffix":""},{"id":512115052,"identity":"23c3cf49-87d0-4588-9064-ed44cdc327f0","order_by":4,"name":"Jungwon Yoon","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAwElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYQWcHAA+UnEKvlDFALG7FaIPragATRWphnJB98XDivVkZ+fgPjhx8MafmELZiRlmw8c9txHoNjDMySPQw5lg2EteSYSfNuO8ZjAHSYNDAgDIiwBaRlzjEe+TYG5t8kaGmo4WE4xsAGtCWHCC09z5KNeY4dAPolsc2yxyCNsBbDdmCI8dTU2cs3Hz5840dFMhFaJiSAqMMMkFglrIGBQZ7/AIiqI0LpKBgFo2AUjFgAADUWM9f5RxVhAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jungwon","middleName":"","lastName":"Yoon","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-01 14:08:28","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31563-4","type":"published","date":"2025-12-12T15:57:44+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":98243740,"identity":"43a8519a-6054-4764-885c-108a15070158","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-15 16:10:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2212246,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"HapticCaneSpeedVaration.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7509289/v1_covered_1e1d8469-3c36-492d-9311-d2511e6bdb1d.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"A Novel Scheme for Speed Variation of a Robotic Cane to Improve Step Length Symmetry during Overground Walking","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Rehabilitation Robotics, Asymmetry, Haptics, Gait Assistance, Stroke","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Gait symmetry is a vital index for improving and evaluating the walking ability of patients with hemiplegia. This is not only related to walking balance but also increases unnecessary energy consumption, causing serious damage to the musculoskeletal system. The restoration of step length symmetry (SLS) is one of the gait parameters targeted for rehabilitation and can be easily accessed and manipulated in the clinic. Therefore, we proposed a novel scheme based on a speed variation method (SVM) using a robotic haptic cane (HC) to improve SLS on overground walking. To evaluate the proposed method and check protocols for a patient study, we conducted an experiment to lengthen the left step length of 24 healthy young participants using positive, negative, and positive \u0026 negative SVM. Additionally, we examined its feasibility in one stroke patient. As a result of the healthy subjects’ experiment, walking speed and the left step length ratio significantly increased with positive and positive \u0026 negative SVM while maintaining walking balance. Results from the patient pilot test were similar to those of the healthy subjects, with improved gait balance. However, swing phase symmetry (SWS) also improved. Furthermore, the patient was sensitive to the baseline HC speed and Negative SVM. In the future, we plan to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method through experiments with stroke patients and explore the relationship between walking speed and the ratio of positive \u0026 negative SVM.","manuscriptTitle":"A Novel Scheme for Speed Variation of a Robotic Cane to Improve Step Length Symmetry during Overground Walking","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-15 15:45:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7509289/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2025-09-08T19:39:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"217173287611341971747492701836502770095","date":"2025-09-08T18:17:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-08T15:28:04+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"220808432130863078582834993582071631807","date":"2025-09-08T13:48:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"173473230607820507462422773827327006656","date":"2025-09-08T08:33:48+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"181398083704670974110033845321255153629","date":"2025-09-08T08:09:19+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"60768679440050986885420955240478869146","date":"2025-09-08T07:46:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"204443159305233628572106194908126554191","date":"2025-09-08T07:35:48+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"167783760535344982566939114486015947454","date":"2025-09-08T06:54:29+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"214561252093261826859809990143332737707","date":"2025-09-08T02:30:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"107120552625279359883652598182466784740","date":"2025-09-08T01:50:10+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"205054733085414011796717422041301250813","date":"2025-09-08T00:16:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"277293711084856419947475658440047958214","date":"2025-09-07T08:51:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"1226086078734518979736675733633214851","date":"2025-09-07T02:25:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-07T00:04:13+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"93923512662612776778004870274538464254","date":"2025-09-06T17:19:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-06T13:12:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-06T13:01:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"332926752895279225665221443076375735176","date":"2025-09-06T12:52:34+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"268962061541390690901480967837960590998","date":"2025-09-06T10:53:29+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2025-09-06T10:34:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"219249818288291993256599773043447331054","date":"2025-09-06T06:02:28+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"35350733319352843653072841544142084010","date":"2025-09-06T05:08:02+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"308161497899035232044994864290337068320","date":"2025-09-06T04:56:56+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"282827764711550472294794091075593521047","date":"2025-09-06T04:11:16+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"338740722619237171826727416115673020469","date":"2025-09-06T04:06:59+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"238730126568942551658693781784624299053","date":"2025-09-06T03:56:10+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"232309210707116023637890615009825973046","date":"2025-09-06T03:41:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"312277530601453807639610526884341110550","date":"2025-09-06T03:39:00+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"101780774000615717298463302025012271050","date":"2025-09-06T02:40:26+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"76233575424546899150540458144419937568","date":"2025-09-06T00:11:27+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"204995188703321917332270898129291589528","date":"2025-09-05T23:51:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"86138878422666705035046262101720021488","date":"2025-09-05T23:46:36+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"3025479935270410583316944359178875108","date":"2025-09-05T23:19:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-05T22:43:03+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-09-05T22:37:52+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-09-05T19:43:51+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-09-04T06:55:15+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-09-04T06:53:43+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"73466fce-66ad-4e27-82af-e52e545bed18","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 15th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[{"id":54393876,"name":"Physical sciences/Engineering"},{"id":54393877,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"},{"id":54393878,"name":"Health sciences/Medical research"},{"id":54393879,"name":"Health sciences/Neurology"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-12-15T16:02:00+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-7509289","link":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31563-4","journal":{"identity":"scientific-reports","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Scientific Reports"},"publishedOn":"2025-12-12 15:57:44","publishedOnDateReadable":"December 12th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-15 15:45:26","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1038/s41598-025-31563-4","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-31563-4","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7509289","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7509289","identity":"rs-7509289","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}