Physical Therapy Products recently spoke with Kayli D. Morgan, PT, MS, supervisor of clinical education at Mobility Research, Tempe, Ariz, about the latest rehabilitation technology for pediatric and adult patients with motor-control–related disabilities.

What are the new treatment strategies in gait training?

Partial-weight-bearing gait therapy (PWB-GT) is the newest gait-training strategy in our field. The goal of PWB-GT is for all patients to attain some improvement in their gait ability, including lower-level patients who under traditional circumstances would not be candidates for gait training due to lack of balance, strength, and postural control required for upright positioning. Measurable goals could be related to increases in gait distance, amount of assistance required for gait or transfers, increases in gait velocity, increases in balance or postural control, and increases in muscle activity.

What is the Weight-Relieving System? Does it improve gait velocity?

LiteGait® is a device that consists of a harness and an overhead strap system that allows control of body weight, posture, and balance. Its design also allows the therapist full access to the patient for gait facilitation. LiteGait is a mobile device, which may be used on the treadmill or on the ground. It can also be used for sitting balance activities; sit to stand; standing balance activities (balls, balance board, and reaching); pre-gait activities; and high-level balance activities, such as tandem walking, sidestepping, and backward walking. LiteGait can also be used in a quadruped position for static activities and crawling and creeping.

When used in conjunction with a treadmill, LiteGait training can improve the patient’s walking skill on ground. Improvements can be noted in velocity, distance, amount of assistance required, and quality of gait.

How does the use of body-weight-support treadmill training aid in the rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injury?

LiteGait creates an environment that provides assistance with postural control and balance, allowing neurologically impaired patients to work on gait in a corrected, upright position that prevents falls. The treadmill provides a rhythmic, symmetric stimulus for the patient, which mimics the reciprocal patterns of gait that a “normal” person would use, rather than a cortically controlled gait that neurologically involved patients typically use. Because the patient is in a fall-free environment, the therapist is free to facilitate gait to provide symmetric, coordinated limb movement. The therapist can manually facilitate weight shifting, assist in foot placement, and help provide limb loading and terminal hip extension, which are critical to reciprocal gait. Because of the continuous, rhythmic movement of the treadmill, patients can get much more gait practice in a single session than with traditional gait training.