The new system, part of Magee’s Locomotor Training Program, is funded by the Christopher Reeve Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Philadelphia, Pa. – Magee Rehabilitation Hospital has expanded its award-winning Locomotor Training Program by adding a new $75,000 Body Weight Support Treadmill System to the Magee Riverfront Outpatient Center at 1500 South Columbus Boulevard, Philadelphia. The new large system and other supplemental equipment are funded by the Christopher Reeve Foundation (CRF) and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

The Locomotor Training Program includes the use of the body weight supported treadmill training in which participants are placed in a parachute type harness attached to an overhead bar and positioned over a treadmill. Once the treadmill begins moving, therapists help individuals move their legs in a way that optimizes sensory inputs. This process helps individuals with certain types of neurologic dysfunction enhance their locomotor skills and, eventually, walking ability. In addition to the Body Weight Support Treadmill system with manual assistance, the Locomotor Training Program consists of overground walking training (facilitated walking on a regular surface), and community ambulation training using everyday functional skills (walking, transfers, selfcare activities, etc.).

Magee, along with the University of California-Los Angeles, is a founding member of the CRF’s NeuroRecovery Network, which provides support for the translation of basic science and applied research into intensive activity-based rehabilitation treatments. The NeuroRecovery Network also includes the establishment of specialized centers that provide standardized care based on current scientific and clinical evidence. The NeuroRecovery Network’s initial therapy was Locomotor Training. Last year, the CRF honored Magee’s Locomotor Training Program with the NeuroRecovery Network Award at a fundraiser for spinal cord injury research called “A Step Toward Hope.” Magee received the award for helping to contribute to the development of the NeuroRecovery Network. A plaque was presented to Magee that stated, the CRF “applauds the pioneering spirit of the NeuroRecovery Network at Magee Rehabilitation.”

Magee now offers the Locomotor Training Program at its main hospital at 1513 Race Street, Philadelphia, and at its Riverfront Outpatient Center. Referrals are now being accepted for treatment with this program, aimed at working on ambulation retraining for those with neurological dysfunction who have partial movement.

“Magee is pleased to offer the state of the art Locomotor Training Program for persons with neurologic dysfunction,” says Mary Schmidt Read. “This program supplements the comprehensive functional rehabilitation offered through both the inpatient and outpatient services of Magee, therefore providing exposure for any appropriate patient within our system. This program allows us to take ambulation—walking—training to a new dimension."