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| Susan Griffith fits Amilia Alee with the Bioness device. |
She may not be able to beat the star of the new NBC drama, The Bionic Woman, in a fair race, but Amilia Alee thinks being able to walk with a steady gait again is just grand.
Thanks to the latest generation of therapy assist devices being employed at RehabCare’s Arlington Rehabilitation Hospital in Arlington, TX, Alee has regained the use of her legs and her right hand, abilities she lost following radiation treatment for a malformation in her brain.
Alee’s recovery was aided by use of the Bioness® system, one device resembling an oversized wrist guard and the other a pair of straps worn on the lower leg. The devices use mild electrical impulses to stimulate muscles during therapy sessions to help them relearn their function.
“It was pretty amazing,” Alee says. “Even after I relearned the basics of walking, I had trouble raising the front of my foot, so my toes would drag on the ground. When I wore the device, the muscles in my shin would contract every time I brought my leg forward and I could walk like normal.”
Upon admission to Arlington, Alee also was unable to close her right hand to grasp objects. But after just one session with a Bioness hand device, she was able to close her hand on her own again. In fact, Alee was the first patient at Arlington to use the device.
Right away, Alee and her family began referring to her as The Bionic Woman. “When I described the devices to them, all my visitors wanted to watch me use them,” she says.
Early in her recovery, Alee also benefited from the use of Arlington’s LiteGait® equipment—a lift device that supports non-ambulatory patients while they participate in therapy. Alee used the device in combination with a treadmill while her therapist sat nearby positioning her feet onto the treadmill, teaching her brain and leg muscles to again work in unison.
“Both of these devices have made a huge difference in the way we’re able to work with patients,” says Susan Griffith, Physical Therapist at Arlington. “The LiteGait, for instance, relieves us of the task of supporting the patient so we can devote our full attention to their balance and walking skills.
“The Bioness devices really speed up the recovery process for most patients. Building strength and stamina are some of the biggest challenges for rehabilitation patients and these devices shorten that time frame.”
RehabCare currently is in discussions with the distributors of the Bioness system to expand the products to other RehabCare facilities.
After spending 16 days at Arlington, Alee was able to return to her home in Bedford, TX, where she works at a jewelry store and operates her own jewelry making business on the side.
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