Fig. 5
Schematic of the experimental protocol and setup. The experimental protocol consisted of 5 sessions. The first session (Enrollment) included the evaluation of the study participants’ eligibility and a gait analysis overground without the APO. The second (Tuning) and the third (Familiarization) session were devoted to the tuning of the APO assistive profile and the familiarization with the exoskeleton assistance. Following these sessions, participants performed two Test sessions: one overground (OVG, day 4) and one on the treadmill (TRM, day 5). The OVG test session included 10mWTs under three different walking conditions: (i) without the APO at the beginning and at the end of the session (NoAPObaseline, NoAPOfinal, grey), (ii) with the APO in transparent mode (TM, bordeaux), (iii) with the APO in assistive mode (AM, blue). During the TRM test session, participants gait performance under the same three different conditions (NoAPO, TM, AM, circle) was assessed through gait analysis tests. On the right, a representative picture of the APO.
