According to a current study by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), medical staff are faced with a particularly high risk of injury at work[1]. In an investigation on how and when people experience first falls in a hospital setting, 19.1% fell during ambulation and a further 20.2% while standing up, sitting down or getting out of bed. By far most of these patients were unassisted at the time of the fall (79.2%). Hereby, patients with neurological diagnoses seem to be specifically at risk [2]. Patients with stroke, who fall in the hospital, are also more likely to fall at least twice at home after discharge [3].These complications definitely hinder the rehabilitation progress and can lead to delays in the recovery.
With its walking robot, Andago, Hocoma is now offering new perspectives for patient mobilization, helping to avoid falls among patients and care staff during overground gait training. “If you think, for example, about a therapist assisting a debilitated person twice his or her weight during gait training, it is obvious that this training is very difficult, requires a lot of skill and still bears risks for both the therapist as well as the patient.” states Alberto Esquenazi, chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at MossRehab, USA. With the mobile Andago, functional and safe gait training is now possible for both the therapist and the patient in a flexible manner, while requiring far less physical exertion from the therapist.
Hereby, Andago not only provides a safe, but also a permissive environment. Patients that are yet unable to initiate and conduct stepping movements while bearing their whole body weight, can now practice stepping thanks to the body weight support. Further, they can also practice balance and adapting their steps to environmental demands, such as to step over a puddle or up a curb [4].
The Andago® was developed within Hocoma’s globally unique rehab network of medical specialists and patients. The innovative walking robot will be presented in Europe for the first time at the Medica 2015 in Dusseldorf, Germany. Visitors are invited to experience the walking robot for themselves during the live demo.
Further information on Andago® can be found under www.hocoma.com/world/en/andago
