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Bioness Reports Breakthrough in Foot Drop Treatment

Posted on: Friday, 22 February 2008, 09:01 CST

Bioness has reported encouraging results from a 12-month study which showed that extended use of the NESS L300 Foot Drop System produced improvements in overall walking ability among stroke and traumatic brain injury survivors.

The pooled-patient data revealed that daily use of the NESS L300 neuroprosthesis over a 12-month period enabled patients experiencing chronic hemiparesis and foot drop following stroke or traumatic brain injury to significantly improve their walking abilities. The study was designed to follow patients with foot drop who were at least six months post-stroke or traumatic brain injury. Evaluations of their gait with the NESS L300 were conducted in four testing sessions: at baseline (with and without the NESS L300), and then after one month, two months and one year.

The positive gains with the L300 is said to demonstrate a breakthrough in the treatment of foot drop because all of the subjects in the study were in the 'chronic' stage of recovery where significant improvement is traditionally considered limited.

Alon, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said: "The NESS L300 offers a substantial improvement over traditional therapy and may significantly enhance a person's ability to walk at an increased speed with improved stability to produce a more normal overall gait pattern."

Source: Datamonitor

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