What role is manual therapy playing in the demand for tables in physical therapy?

We are seeing a renaissance in manual physical therapy due primarily to the explosion of new evidence supporting positive patient outcomes. With this shift toward manual physical therapy, I feel we need to look at tables as tools for “best practice.” What I mean is, if evidence-based practice advocates using evidence-supported protocols, such as manipulation and thrust joint manipulation, in an effort to increase quality of care, then it stands to reason that physical therapy professionals must appreciate the value of those products with critical design elements that optimize patient positioning, offering relevant improvements to the probability of positive outcomes.

Describe some recent advancements in table features for physical therapy needs.

Again, patient positioning is critical in producing the most effective outcomes. There have been significant improvements to the positional control of the C Spine with integrated bolsters and crescent face pads that can be reversed to provide cervical support in supine patient positioning. The consistent increase in patient size continues to drive innovation to develop new technology for tables with the ability to handle heavy patient loads up to 500 pounds and more.

Tables with electric lift capabilities or extra-wide widths are far from new, but tables offering both of these features in one product that can lower to 17 inches provides a multifunctional tool that allows a therapist to efficiently progress a patient through a treatment plan.

Tell us about the rising need for (quality) diagnostic imaging tables in physical therapy practices.

Ultrasound imaging and digital fluoroscopy are emerging as powerful new tools to better document and demonstrate clinical outcomes. Ultrasound tables need to have design capabilities that not only maximize patient range of motion but also need to have built-in features, such as drop-panels to maximize US transducer positioning to fully verify biofeedback response.

Digital fluoroscopy requires tables with tops made from materials that exhibit superior radiolucency, rated by a measurement in millimeters called Aluminum Filtration Equivalent (AL mm). In essence, the lower the rating, the better the imaging quality of the material. Typical materials used for fluoroscopy tables are carbon-fiber and polycarbonate, both of which have very low AFE ratings and thus offer excellent imaging quality.