Lokomat: A New Era In Gait Therapy

Introducing The Lokomat®

The Lokomat® is the first robot-assisted body weight support treadmill. Lokomat® is considered by many experts to be the most advanced piece of equipment available for gait training and neurological re-patterning therapy for patients with a spinal cord injuries, brain injuries, stroke or other neurological conditions. Using the concept of neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to “re-wire”  itself after a traumatic neurological event, Lokomat® gait therapy helps patients with critically impaired mobility re-learn how to use their lower extremities.

Neuroplasticity: A Key Concept To Lokomat®

Research shows that the brain is capable of changing its own structures and functions to find a way around neurological or physical obstacles. By providing the brain with an opportunity to “re-wire” itself through task specific repetitive training, it is possible for the body to re-learn complex movements and regain a significant degree of function even after a traumatic or degenerative neurological event.

What Does Lokomat® Treat?

Lokomat® has improved outcomes for patients with the following conditions/diseases:

• Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI), Spinal Cord Damage
• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
• Hemiplegic
• Paraplegics
• Quadriplegics
• Stroke Recovery, Stroke Rehabilitation, Stroke Treatment
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Cerebral Palsy (CP)
• Parkinson's
• Lower extremity degenerative neurological conditions
• Muscle weakness due to limited mobility

Lokomat® gait therapy has helped many people, but may not be appropriate for everyone. Certain medical conditions may prohibit your participation. To find out if Lokomat® is right for you (or to schedule an appointment) contact pt Health toll free at 866.707.8675 Ext. 315.

pt Health - solutions to get well & stay well.

“The Lokomat has been the best piece of rehab equipment that I have experienced since I got hurt 34 years ago, in 1974.” ~ Patient

“To see my daughter walking again was wonderful” ~ Patient

How The Lokomat® Works

The Lokomat’s® robotic legs are attached to the patient while the he or she is suspended above a treadmill in a secure and stabilizing harness. In comparison to traditional “walking” therapy, which has a significant margin of human error, the Lokomat’s® robotic legs guide the patient’s legs in a healthy walking symmetry, thus stimulating the nervous system to remember or recall a ‘normal’ walking pattern. The Lokomat® enables repetitive training in complex walking cycles to take place as early as possible after impairment. In essence, this is the only machine able to accurately mimic walking in order to re-train the body and brain.

Functional movement and sensory stimulation are critical in the successful rehabilitation of neurological patients following a stroke. Traditional methods of administering proper locomotion therapy can be labour intensive and often allow only relatively short training sessions. In addition, manually assisted gait therapy is often less efficient and can be challenging, especially in heavier or spastic patients.

On the other hand, the Lokomat’s robotic gait orthosis and advanced body weight support system, relieves physical strain of person assisting and enables a longer, more beneficial therapy session. Computer-controlled motors, precisely synchronized with the speed of the treadmill, safely moves the patient’s legs through trajectories that mimic physiological gait patterns, while tracking new movement and charting progress.

The result? Faster progress, more intensive, and more accurate therapy sessions compared to manual treadmill training. 
 

Exceeding Patient Expectations

As a patient using the Lokomat®, you can expect a dramatic increase in your quality of life. Patients as a rule regain a degree of functionality that they would not be able to achieve through more conventional gait training therapy. The Lokomat® changes what is expected in terms of therapeutic outcomes.

The Lokomat’s® interactive environment and augmented feedback allow a patient to participate actively in therapy and encourages motivation. Since the Lokomat® alleviates the strain usually placed on therapists, therapy sessions can be extended and patients reap the benefits that come with a sustained therapeutic effort. Through the charting function, the Lokomat® has the ability to chart patient progress with measurements for stiffness, strength and range of motion. Patients can see for themselves when their own muscles provoke movement rather than the Lokomat® – an experience that many patients find inspiring and motivational. 

To find out if you Lokomat® is right for you ( or to schedule an appointment) contact pt Health toll free at 866.707.8675 Ext. 315.

pt Health - solutions to get well & stay well.

“I think that the Lokomat is a fantastic piece of equipment,” ~ Patient

“Once I saw and experienced the Lokomat, I can definitely see the value of what it does.” ~ Patient

Primary Advantages of Lokomat®

The Lokomat® is designed to support the locomotion therapy of gait impaired patients who have suffered strokes, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, multiple sclerosis or neurological disorders. The Lokomat® provides patients with repetitive, effective and motivating gait training. The advantages of the Lokomat® are:

• Longer and more intensive training sessions compared to manual treadmill training
• Real-time feedback for a higher motivation and compliance
• Physiological gait pattern provided by individually adjustable orthosis, guidance and weight support
• Assessment and reporting functionality for an easy measurement of the patient’s progress

Lokomat® Features and Functions

Automated locomotion therapy on a treadmill - This sensitive system assures a precise match between the speed of the gait orthosis and the treadmill.

Physiologic gait pattern - Hip and knee joint angles are controlled in real time by software to achieve a physiologically meaningful gait pattern

Individual adjustments for patients comfort - The LokomatPro robotic gait orthosis is adjustable to the patient’s anatomy.

Augmented Feedback - The Augmented Feedback of the LokomatPro provides motivating, challenging and instructive functional feedback in virtual environments.

Body weight support - Body weight support systems are used for manually assisted and for automated treadmill training.

What The Experts Say:

Spinal Cord Injury: To our knowledge, this is the first report of an individual with chronic spinal cord injury American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale A improving in over-ground walking ability following intensive physical therapy and robotic locomotor training. ~ 2010. Manella, K. J., Torres, J., Field-Fote, E. C. (Study)

Cerebral Palsy: Children and adolescents with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy showed improvements in the functional tasks of standing and walking after a 3-week trial of robotic-assisted treadmill therapy. ~ 2010. Borggraefe I, Schaefer JS, Klaiber M, Dabrowski E, Ammann-Reiffer C, Knecht B, et al. (Study)

Spinal Cord Injury: Findings suggest that this new approach to BWSTT is a feasible and potentially effective therapy for improving skilled overground walking performance. ~ 2011. Lam, T.,Pauhl, K.,Krassioukov, A.,Eng, J. J. (Study)

Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: In people with chronic motor incomplete SCI, walking speed improved with both overground training and treadmill-based training. ~ 2011. Field-Fote, E., Roach, MJ. (Study)

Parkinson's: Robot-assisted gait training may be a feasible and effective method of reducing FOG and improving gait. ~ 2011. Lo, A. C., Chang, V. C., Gianfrancesco, M. A., Friedman, J. H., Patterson, T. S., Benedicto, D. F. (Study)

Further Studies About The Benefits Of Automated Locomotion Therapy

To find out if you Lokomat® is right for you ( or to schedule an appointment) contact pt Health toll free at 866.707.8675 Ext. 315.

Therapy Availability

Located in Toronto, our Lokomat® is one of very few in Canada available exclusively for clinical use outside of a rehab facility.

At pt Health we deliver solutions to get well and stay well, and we believe that the Lokomat® is most essential in a clinical environment and should be available for all our patients.

Patients with spinal cord injuries (paraplegics and quadriplegics), patients with brain injuries, cerebral palsy, or other degenerative neurological conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s finally have access to the kind of technology that can result in a significant improvement in function and quality of life.

If you believe Lokomat® can help you or someone you know, and would like more information (or schedule an appointment), please contact us toll free at 866.707.8675 Ext. 315.

pt Health - Solutions To Get Well & Stay Well.

"It is so exciting to see common challenges, like spasticity, no longer be an inhibitor to a patients’ rehabilitation." ~ Patient