Motion Training with Functional Electrical Stimulation
My name is Alexander. I work every day on myself for my health and for more mobility.
Since my accident three years ago, I've been a paraplegic.
In the accident, my spinal cord was injured in the area of the 12th thoracic and first lumbar vertebrae,
at first I was completely paralyzed from the navel downwards on the left side.
The right side had minimal residual function.
Since the beginning of my rehab, I haven't missed a single therapy.
Due to the strong paralysis, however, I couldn't do anything with my legs.
That was one of my biggest problems.
After all, I had been walking on my own two feet for 47 years.
My therapist then suggested that I participate in a new therapy.
It was supposed to actively help me move my legs despite my paralysis.
That got me pretty excited.
Due to the damage of the central nervous system,
voluntary movements of the paralyzed muscle are no longer possible or only to a limited extent.
With the help of electrical impulses, nerve cells can be stimulated so that muscles can contract involuntarily.
The result is movement of the limb.
We are seeing and pursuing three effects with this therapy.
The first is for the denervated muscle, or the muscle which, so to speak, no longer moves due to paralysis,
so that we have a structural preservation of the muscle.
In peretic muscles, we hope for a recovery of function,
and we have a third effect, which should not be ignored, which is the cardiovascular effect in the patients.
RehaMove was developed for this new therapy, a therapeutic device that allows active movement training for people with paralysis.
Alexander has been training for several weeks and is clearly excited.
But how exactly does the RehaMove therapy work?
The stimulation is realized via electrodes that are fixed in the muscle fiber direction.
In the therapy, the stimulator operates synchronously with the movement of the motion trainer,
and stimulates the muscle so that they're contracted simultaneously with the physiological course of movement.
Alexander's muscles have adjusted to the stimulation and are growing stronger week by week.
My impression is that the training with the RehaMove is like an initial spark from my muscles,
as if they had suddenly remembered how to move again on their own.
Alexander and his therapist both agree, the RehaMove therapy has convinced them.
During the course of the therapeutic treatment, we could detect changes in Alexander's muscular constitution in the stimulated area.
Further improvements of the cardiovascular system and metabolism were also identified.
By embedding RehaMove in Alexander's therapy, we were able to gain therapeutic results that we wouldn't have otherwise achieved,
particularly in the paralyzed muscles.
I even have a RehaMove at home too, and I train every second to third day with it.
It's very good for me and makes me realize that I can still achieve a lot more.
