Quadriplegic man dances with his wife in the ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System

Source: NBC News

When Lauren Jackson married her quadriplegic husband in 2013, she told him, “When you can walk, I want you to dance with me.”

It was more a dream than anything. Joel Jackson had not been expected to survive the 2009 car wreck that separated his spine from his head, let alone get out of a wheelchair.

But that wish came true.

A couple weeks ago, Lauren and Joel, both 26, shared an impromptu moment swaying to their wedding song, Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be,” at a rehabilitation hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

Joel, suspended from the ZeroG Gait and Balance System, looked into his wife’s eyes — the only way he can communicate with her.

 

VIDEO of the Jackson’s Dance in ZeroG

 

She looked up at him. “My goodness, you’re so tall,” she said.

Lauren kissed Joel. Their eyes met. They danced.

Everyone else in the Brooks Rehabilitation therapy room stopped what they were doing to watch the young couple, who have known each other since childhood but reconnected after his accident. Several wept.

“Euphoric,” recalled Joel, who spoke to NBC News with the help of a computer.

Before wrapping her arms around her husband, Lauren handed her phone to an intern at the rehab center, who recorded them. She posted the video on her blog, where she documents their journey.

“The little things mean so much to us,” Lauren said.

Lauren and Joel have known each other since they were 14. They met during a church event in Anderson County, South Carolina. There was an immediate spark, and they became close. But they gradually drifted apart.In December 2009, Joel and five other young people got into a car with a drunk driver, who hit a telephone pole. A 15-year-old girl died, and Joel, 20 then, was thrown from the car. The impact shattered his spine where it connects to his skull — an “internal decapitation” that few people survive.

“People don’t live through C1 injuries,” said Bob McIver, manager of Brooks Rehabilitation’s Neuro Recovery Center, referring to the vertebrae closest to the head. “Kids sometimes do. At his age, it’s fatal in matter of seconds.”

At the time, Lauren had not seen Joel since high school graduation. She went to visit him. His jaw had been broken in the wreck and hadn’t been repaired, so he could not speak — a condition that never improved.

In late 2012, they began dating — movies, mostly. He proposed a few months later through a video that friends helped produce. They were married in September 2013, Joel mouthing “I do.” At the reception, Joel’s father lifted Lauren onto Joel’s lap as “I’ll Be” played.

Jacksons wedding day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“But I told him, ‘When you can talk, I want to renew our vows. And when you can walk, I want you to dance with me,'” Lauren said.

She put her career on hold to care for him. They developed an intricate but efficient method of communicating, in which Lauren moves through the alphabet and Joel signals with his eyes the letters he wants to use. Joel also took up painting by holding the brushes in his mouth; he sells his work online.

Lauren tried to find Joel rehabilitative services. His spinal injury was “incomplete,” meaning that he could feel things and had a bit of movement. But no one they saw had worked with a patient with a C1 injury. They were turned down everywhere they went.

“He believed there was nothing else that could be done for him,” Lauren said.

Frustrated, they moved to Florida with Joel’s father, who works for Lowe’s and put him on his insurance plan. Joel also receives coverage under Medicaid and Medicare.

Lauren began the search all over again. A neurologist referred them to Brooks Rehabilitation. It took months for Joel to trust the physical therapists, who wanted to put him on a regimen to strengthen his body and circulatory system. They also wanted to figure out why Joel still could not speak.

“As someone who’d never had any physical therapy, we don’t have any idea of what his potential is, what he is hiding,” McIver said.

On Oct. 1, Joel’s therapists asked if they could put him in the device called ZeroG that allows patients to stand upright while allowing their legs to support a small amount of their body weight. Joel, using his eyes, signaled that he agreed. Lauren, who typically records all of Joel’s rehab regimens, looked away to read a text message. When she turned back, Joel was up.

She thought of her wish. “Hey, Joel, do you want to dance?” she said.

McIver found a recording of “I’ll Be” and piped it into the gym’s speakers. Joel met her gaze to tell her he was ready. They moved together, Lauren holding him and smiling, Joel looking at her intently.

“Everyone applauded at the end,” McIver said. “There were lots of tear-filled eyes.”

After being told for years not to expect a life beyond a wheelchair, there was hope.

Joel has continued to regain strength and body movement, McIver said.

“That little step that got him something he wanted, and he looks at what’s the next thing he can do,” he said.

Joel’s gains have motivated the couple to try to buy a home and develop an event planning business. They’ve appealed to supporters to donate to their “home fund,” offering Joel’s paintings as gifts.

“For two years we’ve lived without an income, so we have to get creative,” Lauren said.

She credits Joel for inspiring her. He tells her, “Anything is possible through love.”

Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network has immediate success with ZeroG

Source: Advance PT

Sue Golden, PT, NCS Director of Neurorehabilitation Technologies at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, PA is interviewed by Advance magazine on the immediate impact ZeroG made to their therapy program.

“We see patients here with stroke, spinal cord injury, head injury, vestibular issues, concussion, multiple sclerosis, cancer, Parkinson’s, movement disorders, really anything neurologic, as well as amputations,” said Golden. The facility implemented the ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System in December and saw immediate positive results.

“All of the programs that we develop here are based on neuroplasticity,” Golden explained. “We feel if you attack function from all angles, you give a person the best chance of recovery, no matter what that recovery might be. “You can determine how much weight you’re going to take off patients, as well as specify if you only want them to move in a certain parameter, for example to work on side-stepping or weight-shifting. Or you can open up the entire track and allow people to walk with or without a device. Again, we’re looking at the challenge of balance, proprioception, integrating vision, and the alignment for gait.”

ZeroG can be used for patients with stroke at lower or higher levels of function, added Golden. “You can work the core through lunges, treat patients with amputations, take a patient with incomplete spinal cord injury either with braces or without braces who might be starting a motor-control program. You can pre-gait, emphasizing sit-to-stand, and really focus on helping a patient become weight-bearing through an affected leg.”

ZeroG getting to standing

Golden has utilized the apparatus with a fairly severe stroke patient who tends to push frequently. “We were able to take away his assistive device because he wasn’t likely to fall, and we only allowed the tether to go a certain length so it would catch him if he did,” she said. “So he started taking steps while holding my hand and receiving directions on weight-shifting. He really began to trust his affected leg and walked the most he has since his stroke.”

Golden also recalled the success of the first patient who the therapy staff at Good Shepherd placed in ZeroG. “She’s in her early 20s and a couple years removed from sustaining her head injury. Since the accident, she hadn’t been able to stand on one foot. But within a couple minutes on ZeroG, she did and was just all giggles and smiles, saying ‘I can’t believe I can do this!'”

Treatment sessions at Good Shepherd typically last an hour, with about 45 minutes spent in ZeroG. “If patients need to sit down intermittently, we’ll have them do that in the harness,” Golden related. “And mind you, neither therapist was sweating today while we worked with the stroke patient. That was amazing, because I treated this man once by myself without ZeroG and I was definitely perspiring.”

“I think the equipment has been a wonderful addition,” Golden added. “We’re trying to promote function through every avenue, at every level for every person, while keeping them safe. To really increase their repetitions of being upright and moving. I believe this equipment is a great complement to our treatment, another tool in our toolbox to help people.”

Good Shepherd Logo square

Patients at Children’s Specialized Hospital Use ZeroG for Optimal Recovery Outcomes

Source: Childrens Specialized

Pediatric patients recovering from a spinal cord injury, brain injury or stroke at Children’s Specialized Hospital now have access to ZeroG, cutting edge balance and gait training system that helps patients to walk again. Here at Children’s Specialized Hospital, we include ZeroG in our intensive pediatric rehabilitation hospital program, making us one of only two children’s hospitals in the country to offer the device.

The ZeroG is our newest addition to our therapy program, but our highly skilled team utilizes many other treatments for children with spinal cord dysfunction, stroke and brain injury.

Our outcomes and recovery rate for our brain injury, spinal cord and stroke patients far surpass the national average of similar institutions.  According to 2013 pediatric functional independence measure (WeeFIM).

  • Stroke and spinal cord injury patients had a significantly more successful recovery than the average outcomes of similar facilities nationwide
  • Stroke: average change rate score of 58.1% vs 34.9%.
  • Spinal cord: average change rate score of 55.3% vs 33.9%
  • Traumatic brain injury patients have significantly more successful recovery rates than national average of similar
  • Change rate scores 83.6% vs. 64.3% national average, a 19.3% difference

More About ZeroG
The dynamic body weight support harness provides training for standing, sitting, and walking. It is used for a wide range of patients with all levels of acquired, traumatic, and congenital spinal cord dysfunction, including children with:

  • Guillain-Barré syndrome
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Stroke and spinal stroke
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Paralysis
  • Incomplete spinal cord injury

There are many benefits to training with ZeroG:

  • Patients can begin physical therapy earlier in their treatment, a factor associated with enhanced outcomes.
  • The body-weight device allows for partial compensation of spasticity, abnormal coordination, and weakness.
  • There is nothing on the floor, so patients can practice on stairs and uneven ground, train for sit-to-stand motions, and use assistive devices if necessary.
  • The device offers security, so patients may not develop compensatory strategies.
  • Therapists can assess and track a patient’s recovery.

Additional therapy treatments may include:

  • FES cycling
  • Upper and lower extremity electrical stimulation
  • Custom bracing (some with built-in electrical stimulation)
  • Treadmill training

Each patient’s treatment plan combines a vigorous rehabilitation program with comprehensive medical and nursing care.

Of course, we understand that dealing with a spinal cord injury can be a stressful ordeal, even with the best care. So, to help our patients adjust as they recover from their injury, the team also provides community integration trips, school visits, and home evaluations to ensure a smooth transition to home and school.

ZeroG helps this young man realize his dream of walking

Source: WBRZ

Baton Rouge Rehab Hospital is using the ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System to revolutionize rehab for amputees.

Jeremiah Foster was born with underdeveloped arms and legs. As he grew, his legs had trouble supporting him. Then he found out he had arthritis in his legs. At age 13, Jeremiah decided to have his legs amputated so he could walk again. He struggled with rehab for years.

Now at 18, Jeremiah can walk with confidence, on his new legs. He says it happened after getting to use the ZeroG system. It’s the only one in Louisiana.

Baton Rouge Amputee 2

“I’ve only been three feet tall my whole life so this since September is really a jump for me so not only that the height but also I don’t have any arms to catch me if I fall so there’s nothing really to protect me or anything like that I just hit the ground so with the harness that really helps out a lot,” said Foster.

Foster says ZeroG takes away the fear, allowing him to strengthen his legs, and learn to walk. “I don’t have to worry about it anymore. I can go places, if someone wants me to go with them grocery shopping, or shopping for clothes, or anything, I can wear jeans now, I couldn’t before,” Foster explained.

 

ZeroG technology at Froedtert helps patients develop confidence

Source: Fox 6

Imagine having a headache, and the next thing you know you are in the hospital, having to learn basics like walking again. That’s the reality Joan Schacht woke up to.

“Everything’s changed now,” said Joan Schacht. Just a few weeks ago, Joan was an active 68 year old woman, used to doing everything on her own. But then in an instant everything changed. “Next thing I know I am in the hospital and I woke up and my head was all cut open,” said Joan. She woke up at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin and was told she had had a stroke. Joan went from doing things on her own to needing help- with everything. “I have to depend on other people to help me do things and watch me walk so I don`t fall and just everything I do has to be watched,” said Joan. And on top of that, Joan didn’t know how or if things would ever go back to normal. She didn’t know if she would ever walk again.

But then her physical therapist, Cheryl Vorwald introduced her to the ZeroG Overground Gait and Balance Training System. ZeroG is a robotic training system that holds up to 50 percent of the patient’s body weight to help them walk and learn how to balance again. “It was like a miracle to just get in that machine and walk along. You could walk, you could hop, you could skip,” remembered Joan of the first time she used it.

The patient is in a harness, which is attached to a 75-foot overhead track on the ceiling. The system makes up to 1,200 adjustments per second, and detects if patients start to fall and catches them to prevent injury.

Froedtert ZeroG

“The first time you are afraid you are going to fall and crack your head open or something but then it catches you and you don’t fall,” said Joan. It also allows her personal trainer Cheryl to be a lot more hands on. The standard method without the system involves the physical therapist holding a gait belt while the patient practices walking. It ends up being more “artificial” that working with the ZeroG.

“When I take them and I can step back, they build that confidence and realize I am doing this on my own. The confidence and then their willingness to try other things increases and we can challenge them even further,” said Vorwald.

Froedtert Hospital has had this technology for about a year now. The money to purchase the system was donated to the Froedtert Hospital Foundation by the family of a patient who is deceased. Cheryl can see the difference the system has made in her patients, like Joan. Joan notices the changes it has made in her as well, both physically and mentally.

“You have control of your life again,” said Joan.

Centre for Neuro Skills enhances patient rehabilitation with new ZeroG Gait and Balance System

Source: Centre for Neuro Skills

A revolutionary system that helps people with neurologic injuries to practice walking and improve balance has been introduced at Centre for Neuro Skills (CNS). The ZeroG® Gait and Balance System combines body weight support mechanics with a robust user interface that records data and patient progress in real-time. CNS is the first postacute facility west of the Rockies to use this advanced technology.

ZeroG over treadmill

“ZeroG® provides functional, real-world ambulation, yet prevents the patient from running, falling or being injured,” said CNS founder and CEO Dr. Mark J. Ashley, Sc.D., CBIST. “This is a remarkable asset for CNS, as the interface is customizable for traumatic brain injury, stroke, and spinal cord injuries and for a broad array of users, from pediatric to elderly patients.”

Its innovative design allows patients with severe to minimal gait impairments to practice ambulation and balance. The patient walks in a secure harness, assisted by a therapist. A 75-foot long ceiling-mounted track and trolley system can be adjusted for support, independent movement, and walking speed.

Each patient’s experience is recorded by the system’s computer, which captures data in real-time. Results can be shared with case managers, physicians, family members and insurers. Outcomes on ambulation distance, speed, balance, and disruptions (would-be falls) help all those involved with the patient to measure progress.

ZeroG iPad

Operation is controlled through a touch screen computer or wirelessly, via iPod and iPad. ZeroG® is designed for the real-life demands of climbing stairs, standing, navigating terrain, sitting and getting off the floor. The system’s body weight support component allows for partial compensation of weakness, spasticity, and abnormal coordination. Such refinements enable patients to practice at high-intensity levels soon after neurologic injuries – factors shown to be related to enhanced outcomes (DeJong et al., 2005; Horn et al., 2005).

To help guide therapists with training ideas, the Activity Library (a large repository of videos) shows patients performing various activities in ZeroG®. Therapists can use the library as a reference for selecting movements appropriate for the patient. Videos can also be played for the patient prior to trying an activity, allowing the therapist to review the goals they want to achieve. Presently, the system is available at CNS’ flagship Bakersfield, California, clinical facility. It is the company goal to place ZeroG® in the Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco locations as well.

Aretech’s ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System at Seton Brain and Spine Recovery Center

Source: Newsroom Ink

On Memorial Day in 2007, Daniel Curtis slipped while diving into his backyard pool and shattered his 6th vertical vertebrae. After spending 10 days in the ICU, he began his road to recovery. Daniel came to Seton Brain and Spine in Austin, TX where he’s been regaining mobility in part by his determination and help from Aretech’s ZeroG Gait and Balance Training System.

ZeroG allows Daniel to go beyond the typical limits to practice crawling, getting up from the floor, stand, balance and walk. The dynamic body-weight support helps assist him during activities while gaining his independence back. Training reports also allow Daniel to see how he’s progressed over time such as levels of body-weight support and number of falls.

Shriners Philadelphia adds ZeroG to their therapy program

Source: Shriners International

After a traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI), most patients and families list walking as one of their top goals of rehabilitation. Twenty years ago, SCI typically meant a patient had to use a wheelchair. Treatment options were very limited and rarely helped with standing and walking. Thankfully, advancements in science and therapy now provide higher hopes for healing.

Shriners Hospitals for Children® — Philadelphia now has the ZeroG Overground Gait and Balance Training System available for patients. This system supports a patient’s body weight and can be used in many ways. Unlike other systems that can only be used on a treadmill, the ZeroG system can also be used over the ground, on a therapy mat, and even for transfer and fall prevention training.

The ZeroG system is mounted to a driven trolley, which rides along an overhead track. Patients put on a special harness, which is connected to a cable that attaches to the trolley. The system can provide up to 300 pounds of static support and 150 pounds of dynamic support. It allows patients with severe gait impairments to practice walking and balance activities in a safe and controlled way.

ZeroG will allow patients at Shriners Philadelphia to practice a variety of activities to help them achieve functional independence at home and in their communities. The Philadelphia hospital is the first in the Shriners Hospitals for Children system and the first hospital in the city of Philadelphia to have ZeroG.

ZeroG machine helps stroke patients walk

Source: NBC 4

Suffering from a stroke can be devastating, leaving victims unable to do simple things like standing up, sitting down, even walking, but now new technology is helping stroke patients get their lives back.

“I started to feel some numbness in the left side of my body,” Colton Peek said. “I tried to stand up. I noticed that I had almost fallen down.”

On April 28, Peek, 46, suffered a stroke that left the left side of his body without any strength. “My whole left side was pretty much just there,” Peek said. “Pretty much wasn’t strong at all. Pretty much lifeless for the most part.” He wasn’t able to walk, devastating for the father of two, who was used to being active. “It’s like, in less than a minute, you’re a totally different person,” he said. “That was tough.”

But on the bright side, Peek still had feeling on his left side and the stroke didn’t affect him cognitively. So doctors at National Rehabilitation Hospital thought his best hope for ever walking again was an experimental machine, called the ZeroG system.

NRH ZeroG Peek 2

“He was a very good candidate because the most significant aspects of his impairments were related to weakness, motor weakness,” said National Rehabilitation Hospital Dr. John Aseff. “He could understand instructions.”

The ZeroG system helps stroke and traumatic brain injury patients learn to walk again by creating a zero gravity environment. Patients are put into a harness and the machine actually lifts some of their body weight off of them. This helps them practice things like standing up, sitting down and walking. As patients start to gain their strength back, more weight is added.

“We can get them up in a very safe and controlled manner and they can practice tasks such as walking, postural balance activities, stepping over obstacles in a safe controlled manner,” said NRH scientist Joe Hidler. Normally, stroke patients work on a treadmill, but that doesn’t prepare them for the real world, Hidler said. “It’s not just about walking, it’s doing the things that they have to do in the community, at home, and really thats the goal of all of our patients, to be able to walk at home and in the community,” Hidler said.

“It allowed me to have 30 to 40 pounds lifted up off of me, which allowed me to gradually learn how to walk better and how to stabilize myself and how to just gradually get back to some sense of normalcy,” Peek said. Peek has been working with the ZeroG machine for four weeks now. He believes he’s on his way to recovery. “I have a firm belief that I will be able to walk again like I was in April, to be able to do the normal things that I’ve been able to do.”

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/health/Zero-Gravity-Machines-Helps-Patients-Walk.html