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Yesterday I got a visit from a salesman of a swiss medical device company that is going to bring WalkAid to the german market.
The company is currently making its fist experiences with WalkAid in MS and so I'm allowed to noncommittaly try WalkAid for two or three month.

My first impression when we tried to configure the device was that it does work in lifting my foot up- and outwards but it takes the natural flow out of my gait.
I was just walking some hundet meters indoors so I cant already tell how it will be to go longer distances when I usually have difficulties with foot drop.

I'll regularly report how thing are going.

--Frank

Frank, glad to hear you are trying out a WalkAide.

I suggest that you be proactive with your technician when he is programming and fitting your device. The WalkAide is kind of a "one size fits all" device. Needless to say your leg formation is different than mine, so the cuff needs to be re-fitted for your leg. My technician re- molded the cuff so that it was tighter in the area where my peroneal nerve is. Also, my physical therapist requested that the "ramp up" program be changed. This was something the technician was able to easily accomplish, but would not have thought to do without the input from the physical therapist.

Your gait probably will change. For me, this is a good thing - my gait was accomodating weak muscles which were not firing because of the defective nerve impulse. Hopefully, with the WalkAide stimulation those muscles will become stronger and my gait will be smoother. I can now walk 1/2 to 1 mile on the treadmill at a speed of 2.2 miles/hour. I do this everyday because now it is so much easier - I do not become frustrated, and the muscle fatigue is negligible.

Good luck - I will be glad to answer any of your questions -send me a PM if you would like.

Sharon

Thanks Sharon, for your comment.
I agree that it is important to walk a regular distance without experiencing frustating and unpleasent levels of footdrop at the end.
Usually I'm able to control it with some effort, but walking could be definitly more fun and I hope WalkAid can help me in that respect.

--Frank

I used my walkaid for about a week now.
The main problem for me is that while it works fine when walking indoor on a slow speed.
The timining for the stimulating pulses gets wrong when walking outdoors where my gait is more varied regarding speed and rhythm.

I already wrote an email to the technician about that,but didnt get a reply yet.
If this problem cant be fixed the Walkaid would loose much of its usefulnes for me.

--Frank

Frank, I talked with my technician about your concerns. Here is what I found out:

The WalkAide will adjust to a faster speed (to a limit) because there is an accelerator within the unit. According to the technician, she has seen people run with the unit. It depends on your running form and what the tilt of the affected leg is. You might ask your technician to decrease the "wait" time between the tilt-on and the tilt-off.

I find that if my step length on the unaffected leg is increased, than I have a problem with a stutter-step. Sometimes in the morning when I am stronger, I will take longer steps with my good leg which affects the unit because the tilt of the bad leg is then changed. It only takes once for it to happen, and then I remember to take the shorter step. Ultimately, my goal would be to have my unit reprogrammed for a longer step.

Hope this helps - if you would like the email of my technician, send me a PM.

Sharon

Frank - I just thought of something else.

Change the degree of pulse during the day. I start out in the morning at about a "2", but by evening I am down to "1 -1-1/2".

Frank -

Just another thought ---

Do you have a distributor for the Bioness 300 in your area? I would suggest you try the unit. They advertise that with their unit you are able to walk on changing surfaces without any problem. I spoke at length with the distributor here in Denver but never tried the unit; so, I really do not have a functional comparison.

Sharon

Thanks Sharon !

I tried the walkaid some more times but unfortunately the unit does not seem to adapt to my gait.
My Technician did not respond yet, I'll try to call him during the next week.

I do just use the walkaid on occation so I adjust the intensity level (1, 1.5, 2) to my current needs.

The Bioness device sounds interesting, but there is no chance to try one in germany.

--Frank

Frank,

Are you still using the Walk Aide and could you share the info on the supplier in Germany? I also live in Germany and am interested in trying this.

Thank you for any help and info, Sheila

Hi Sheila,

I dont use the WalkAid any more. I tried to contact the physitian that adjusted the WalkAid to my gait. I wanted to have the WalkAid function to be changed to better fit my faster walking speed.
He never responded to any of my eMails and the device as it is now is of no use for me.

Its a company from switzerland, but the physitian - who is a very friendly guy - is in germany for business trips from time to time.

This was my contact to the company:
Frey Orthopädie Bedarf AG
- Herr Erkki Wollstein -
web: http://www.frey-orthopaedie-bedarf.ch
eMail: technician@orthoimexport.ch

In my opinion the Walk Aid is only suitable for people who have severe problems lifting their foot and do only walk pretty slow (up to 1-2 km/h).

--Frank

Frank,

Thanks for the quick response. Unfortunately, I fall into the slow walker category. I even wonder if my walking is too bad for the machine to help, but would like to set up a demo.

I live south of Stuttgart, so a drive to the clinic in Switzerland would not be out of the question. Thanks for your info, what did you do with the Walk Aide when you stopped using it? Any possibility of reselling it? Would it be useful to anyone else, or must it be adjusted by the company?

Hope all is well with you, Sheila

Yes I think its worth to give it a try.
The WalkAid I got was a demo-sample, I didnt have to pay for it, but I will have to return the device on demand of the swiss company.

Anyway, the device on its own will not be of too much use for a different user because it must be configured to the individual gait.

The physitian called me yesterday and told me about a meeting of WalkAid staff in Frankfurt at June 16 and 17, that he will also join.
I'm not sure what exactly they are going to do there but he mentioned that it might be interesting for me to also go there, he will check whether it would be possible for patients to attend the meeting too - he'll give me a call.
Maybe this would be a good opportunity for you to meet the guy and maybe have a first shot at the WalkAid.

--Frank