NorthShore Regional Medical Center (NSRMC) has become one of approximately 35 centers, and the only one in the state of Louisiana, to acquire the Lokomat®, a system of robotic legs, treadmill and harness working in concert, that physicians believe may help some patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries learn to walk again.
The robot-assisted training device supports patients in a parachute harness while moving their legs on a treadmill. It creates a smooth repetitive motion that may help patients with neurologic injury learn to walk again. Lokomat® is housed at the recently opened Physical Medicine and Stroke Center at NSRMC’s Neuroscience Institute.
The Lokomat® is a motor driven exoskeleton device that employs a body weight support suspension system and treadmill. Attached to the lower limbs, the Lokomat® moves the patient's legs through position controlled trajectories that mimic normal human gait patterns. This is accomplished by utilizing high quality computer-controlled motors that are precisely synchronized with the speed of the treadmill. The hip and knee joint angles are controlled in real time by software to achieve a kinematically correct stepping behavior.
Each of the four motor-driven joints is individually controlled to correspond precisely to the desired joint angle trajectories. The system assures a precise match between the speed of the limb trajectory and the treadmill. In addition, sensors in the motors provide an indirect indicator of the amount of effort the patient is generating to achieve walking in an upright position. Lokomat's real-time controlled software assists patients to move their legs in a pattern that is consistent with normal walking motions. Each of the four joints is constantly monitored by the software to ensure they are precisely held to the predefined gait patterns.
"This automated process relieves the therapist of the manual labor required during manual assisted treadmill gait therapy. This allows training session to be longer and more repeatable," says Abdolreza Vadiee, M.D., Medical Director of Rehabilitation Services at NSRMC. He adds that locomotion therapy on a treadmill has been an effective intervention for improving over-ground walking function in numerous neurological diseases and traumatic brain injuries. "Through numerous intensive training sessions, patients begin the process of re-learning to walk upright until partial or even complete functional mobility is restored."
Lokomat® can be adjusted to a patient's height, weight, strength and individual training program. The equipment has built-in safety features. If a patient were to falter or appear to be having difficulty during an exercise session, built-in sensors would shut off the machine automatically. The physical therapist supervising the therapy also can turn off the machine.
The Physical Medicine and Stroke Center and Lokomat® were featured on WWL-TV's Medical Watch on August 23, 2007 with Meg Farris. Click here to view the clip, "New Technology Helping Stroke Victims."
NSRMC has been recognized by several healthcare organizations. These include, Five-Stars Ranking for Stroke Care from HealthGrades for 2006; rated among the top 10 facilities in Louisiana for stroke care; Silver Level 2006 Louisiana Hospital Quality Award for improving the quality of health care for patients in the clinical areas of heart failure and acute myocardial infarction, award presented by the Louisiana Health Care Review, Inc., the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization of Louisiana; implemented all initiatives of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.