NASA Rehab Tool Brings People to Their Feet
From: Technology for Today - page 12

Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, has begun using the Secure
Ambulation Mode (S.A.M.) physical therapy device to rehabilitate patients
with spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries. 

A product of Enduro Medical Technology (East Hartford, CT), S.A.M. is based
on technology developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). Enduro
donated the S.A.M. unit to Walter Reed to facilitate rehabilitation for
military patients, including soldiers returning home from service in Iraq. 

"We felt S.A.M. would be an ideal fit for Walter Reed because it makes the
rehabilitation process less taxing on both the patient and the medical
staff," said Enduros president Ken Messier. According to Messier, S.A.M.
allows patients to stand or walk - partially weight bearing, full weight
bearing or non-weight bearing - whether they have a sense of balance or not.
"It allows them to be up in a standing position without having three or four
therapists having to help them stand," explained Messier. "So it gets the
patient up sooner in the rehab process without a fear of falling and without
an injury to the patient or staff members."  

At Walter Reed, the device is being used to help patients with a variety of
traumatic injuries to the spinal cord and brain. According to Messier, one
active military patient who was wheelchair-bound for two years due to a
thoracic spinal cord injury is now up and walking with S.A.M. "When we first
put him in the walker, he was up and going for 25 minutes," explained
Messier. "Hes now walking for up to 25 minutes every day and even using
S.A.M. to perform exercises to strengthen his leg muscles."  

Developed at Goddard Space Flight Center, the patented technology behind
S.A.M. includes an earlier model walker device and a cable-compliant joint
mechanism. Unlike a fixed joint, which can move in only one or two
directions, NASAs compliant joint allows subtle movement in six directions
with variable degrees of stiffness. Enduro licensed both patents from NASA
and added the joint mechanism to the walkers harness, enabling greater
flexibility in the walkers use and creating a commercially viable product. 

The donation of S.A.M. to Walter Reed was made possible with support from The
Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF).
HJF is a nonprofit organization that provides a resource link between
military medicine organizations and private industry. "I commend Enduro for
donating its medical devices to help with rehabilitation efforts at Walter
Reed," said HJF president John Lowe. "Were very glad to be able to
facilitate this collaboration, which provides additional resources for the
treatment of our military personnel."  

Photo caption: Enduro Medical Technology President Ken Messier assists with a
demonstration of the companys NASA technology - based youth walker, SAM-Y,
at Space Day 2006. 

Download the entire document at:
http://www.federallabs.org/pdf/Tech_For_Today.pdf

Links:
S.A.M.-Y
http://www.sam-y.net/

Injured US Troops Being Helped by NASA Technology
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=50304

NASA Technology Comes to Rescue of Injured US Troops
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/everydaylife/SAM.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2006/SAM.html
