Bill Warner’s Blog

For the last three months, I've been training on the Locomat, a revolutionary robotic walking system at Spaulding Rehab in Boston, MA. I have a T12 spinal cord injury that is incomplete, so its equivalent to an L4 spinal injury. This means I have some strength in my upper leg, but nothing below the knee. I normally walk with crutches.

 Check out the two movies below, as well as the manufacturer's website.

 http://www.hocoma.ch/en/products/lokomat/

This movie is from my third day on the machine. I'm already getting pretty comfortable.

Now check out the video from today, December 9, 2008. Today, I walked 1400 meters. I reached a top speed of 3.0 kM/h. (The machine only goes up to 3.2!). I walked for 32 minutes.
 
The machine has a computerized "unweighting" system that hold you up. When you start, you're totally suspended by the harness, with legs off the treadmill. Then as you go, the therapist can increase the weight you are carrying. I weigh about 100Kg (220 lbs). By this last training session, I was carrying up to 80 Kg (176 lbs) of my own weight. And I was doing that at the 3.0 km/h speed.
 
The improvement from the Lokomat is significant. Off the machine (still with crutches!), my walking speed is higher. My range is significantly higher. And I no longer have any back pain from standing or walking. The other day I went to the Museum of Fine Arts, and walked from the parking lot, and walked throughout the exhibits. In the past, I would have used wheelchair. This is, by far, the best piece of equipment I have used in my (now) 34 year career as a person with a handicap!
 
Many thanks to my physical therapist, Urvashi, who was at the main controls, and to Jody, handled the machine and also took the movies. I've never had so much fun, and improved so fast!

This is the screen the therapist uses.