The SpinoFLEX is a result of many years of rigorous research and development involving individuals, therapists and doctors. With its power-driven frame and ergonomically designed attachments, the SpinoFLEX is invaluable to any rehabilitation setting.
BioMechanics
August 2004
Treadmill training improves function in Parkinson's patients
The changing rehabilitation model posits the possibility of neural recovery through task-specific therapy.
By: Beth Fisher, PhD, PT, Melissa Fong, and Jeanine Yip, DPT
"Because patients are protected from falling, (Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training) allows them to safely train at greater walking speeds.
"Those studies that have specifically examined the effectiveness of BWSTT in individuals post-stroke have found improvement in gait-related outcomes such as overground walking speed."
"The task-specific approach to treadmill training exemplifies a basic principle of motor learning: a skill can be improved with practice and repetition. Thus, for an individual to improve his or her gait, training must be directed at the specific gait parameters in question: stride length, speed, cadence, etc. Treadmill training and BWSTT are means by which this can be accomplished."
Physical Therapy
Volume 82 · Number 5 · May 2002
Supported Treadmill Training for Gait and Balance in a Patient With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
By: Monthaporn Suteerawattananon, Betty MacNeill, and Elizabeth J Protas
"This case report is the first to report fall reduction, improved gait, and improved balance following physical therapy for a person with PSP.(through the use of supported treadmill training"
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
Vol. 38 No. 2, March/April 2001
A comparison of regular rehabilitation and regular rehabilitation with supported treadmill ambulation training for acute stroke patients (PDF)
By: Inácio Teixeira da Cunha Filho, PT, PhD; Peter A.C. Lim, MD; Huma Qureshy, PT, MS; Helene Henson, MD; Trilok Monga, MD; Elizabeth J. Protas, PT, PhD
"study suggests that the (Supported Treadmill Ambulation Training) intervention is a promising technique for acute stroke rehabilitation"
"early intervention in acute stroke rehabilitation revealed that the procedure was safe and well tolerated."
Physical Therapy
Volume 82 . Number 1 . January 2002
Body Weight Support Treadmill and Overground Ambulation Training for Two Patients With Chronic Disability Secondary to Stroke (PDF)
By: Ellen Winchell Miller, Matthew E Quinn, Patricia Gawlik Seddon
"participants with chronic deficits secondary to stroke made improvements following (Body Weight Supported) treadmill and overground training."
Stroke
1998;29:1122-1128.
A New Approach to Retrain Gait in Stroke Patients Through Body Weight Support and Treadmill Stimulation (PDF)
By: Martha Visintin, MSc; Hugues Barbeau, PhD; Nicol Korner-Bitensky, PhD; Nancy E. Mayo, PhD
"Retraining gait in patients with stroke while a percentage of their body weight was supported resulted in
better walking abilities than gait training while the patients were bearing their full weight. This novel gait training strategy provides a dynamic and integrative approach for the treatment of gait dysfunction after stroke."
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
2003 Oct;84(10):1458-65.
Optimal outcomes obtained with body-weight support combined with treadmill training in stroke subjects.
By: Barbeau H , Visintin M .
"Retraining gait in severely impaired stroke subjects with a percentage of their body weight supported resulted in better walking and postural abilities than did gait training in patients bearing their full weight. It appears that subjects with greater gait impairments benefited the most from training with BWS, as did the older patients with stroke."
Stroke
1995;26:976-981
Treadmill Training With Partial Body Weight Support Compared With Physiotherapy in Nonambulatory Hemiparetic Patients
By: S. Hesse, MD; C. Bertelt, MD; M. T. Jahnke, MD; A. Schaffrin, PT; P. Baake, PT; M. Malezic, MS K. H. Mauritz, MD
"Treadmill training offers the advantages of task-oriented training with numerous repetitions of a supervised gait pattern. It proved powerful in gait restoration of nonambulatory patients with chronic hemiparesis. Treadmill training could therefore become an adjunctive tool to regain walking ability in a shorter period of time."
Space Medicine and Life Sciences Research Center
By: Douglas F. Paulsen, Ph.D.
"In normal gravity conditions, joint cartilages undergo cyclic compression and decompression with use. During compression, fluid is squeezed out into the joint cavity where it picks up oxygen and nutrients and releases wastes. During decompression, the refreshed fluid is reabsorbed into the viscous cartilage matrix."
Space Medicine and Life Sciences Research Center
By: Douglas F. Paulsen, Ph.D.
"Without good osmotic diffusion of collagen precursors (i.e. disk nutrition), avascular disc nutrition will not occur and that makes healing in the disc segment an iffy proposition... diffustion is helped by lowering intradiscal pressures, precisely what spinal decompression therapy accomplishes"
Spine
24(10):1034-1042, 1992
Kankaanpaa, M., et. al
The Efficacy of Active Rehabilitation in Chronic Low Back Pain
"One such study looking at patients with herniated and degenerative disc disease found that 86% of 219 subjects who completed decompression therapy reported immediate disappearance of symptoms, while 84% of the total remained pain-free for 3 months afterward; 92% of the cohort showed varying degrees of physical improvement - those gains were locked in for the vast majority of them 90 days after treatment."
Physiology of Back Pain
The human body is a self-sustaining system with mechanisms that allow for repair of injured areas. Some of these mechanisms require the presence of basic building blocks before repair can begin. The majority of these building blocks or nutrients are found in blood which is pumped via the circulatory system. In certain areas of the body, such as the avascular spinal column, there is no blood flow to allow for the delivery of nutrients. In order for nutrients to get to these places, the body relies on the lymphatic system. However, unlike blood which is pumped through the body by the heart, lymph requires movement and muscular contraction to propel it and its nutrients throughout the body. This concept is important in understanding the healing process of intervertebral disks. If lymph flow to the disks is impeded, the disks cannot heal. This movement known as cyclic decompression is clinically proven to heal damaged discs and relieve pain caused by impinged nerves.It is well known that an effective method of restoring disk herniations is through basic spinal traction. Cases have been presented where through regular decompression exercises, disk herniations have been restored without surgical intervention. When the spine is in a decompressed state, it creates a negative pressure area in which the intervertebral disks can slip back into. This is called static decompression. However, for maximal effectiveness, cyclic decompression can be performed. Cyclic decompression allows for nutrient flow into the intervertebral disks as well as creating a repetitive state of negative pressure for herniated disks to restore into.
Healthcare professionals in the rehabilitation industry know the importance of repetitions during gait-training exercises. Correct motion repetitions are paramount in re-teaching a patient how to walk and not only helps the body “remember” how to walk but also enables the promotion of proper posture and gait so that there are less complications later on. Unweighting creates an ideal environment in which the affected areas have less weight on them to impede motions and can support the patient so the therapist can concentrate on simply assisting in moving the limb in the correct manner. Historically, unweighting has been provided through the use of various harness systems and as effective as it may be, it is limiting in its uses. If the patient is able to support him or herself through various attachments in addition to being in a harness, it can promote upper body strengthening as well as giving the patient a degree of control which can help motivate the patient.
Various support mechanisms are also beneficial in promoting proper posture during different flexion and extension exercises. Extension exercises can promote strengthening of the muscle fibers in the back as well as promoting the maintenance of ligament integrity. Both Williams Flexion and McKenzie Extension Methods can be performed on the SpinoFLEX with greater ease due to the many ways one can be supported.
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