Rugilė Vareikaitė

Ms. Rugilė Vareikaitė


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

3Years (2024-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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31 December 2024 in Sensors
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
RKRaimondas Kubilius
Raimondas Kubilius
DRDarius Ruočkus
Darius Ruočkus
VSVitalija Stonkuvienė
Vitalija Stonkuvienė
RVRugilė Vareikaitė
Rugilė Vareikaitė
RCRebecca Cardini
Rebecca Cardini
TBThomas Bowman
Thomas Bowman
Background. Wearable powered exoskeletons could be used to provide robotic-assisted gait training (RAGT) in people with stroke (PwST) and walking disability. The study aims to compare the differences in cardiac function, fatigue, and workload during activities of daily living (ADLs), while wearing an exoskeleton. Methods. Five PwST were recruited in this pilot cross-sectional study. We observed three experimental conditions: walking without and with the UAN.GO exoskeleton and walking with the UAN.GO combined with the OPTIGO walker. Each condition included five trials related to ADLs such as sitting and walking. Results. No statistically significant difference was found between heart rate and R–R of ECG data while comparing all the observed conditions during each respective trial. The NASA Task Load Index did not show significant differences across all trials, except for a significant difference between Condition 2 and Condition 3 in Trial 4 (p = 0.043). However, walking and sit-to-stand tasks seem to be more challenging according to the NASA-TLX. Only one participant scored over 70 points on the System Usability Scale. The TSQ-WT scores for conditions 2 and 3 were 62 (56.5–72.5) and 70 (66.5–75) points, respectively. Conclusions. This study suggests that UAN.GO exoskeleton could be used for RAGT in PwST with disability without compromising cardiovascular function.