Innovation Award of the

REHACARE INTERNATIONAL 2005 exhibition!

RehaBike - tricycle

For many years scientists and engineers from the University of Glasgow, the Max Planck Institute in Magdeburg and the company HASOMED GmbH have been investigating the use of Functional Electrical Stimulation for neurological rehabilitation purposes.

Frequently, an accident or disease leads to the loss of a person’s ability to move their muscles. However, paralysed muscles can be made to contract by electrical impulses. For applications of this kind, the RehaStim stimulator was developed which allows controlled movement of the legs or arms using Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) technology.

Orthoses provide a safe foothold. The speed is regulated using a “throttle”.

The RehaBike consists of a specially equipped recumbent tricycle and the RehaStim stimulator.

The user sitting on the tricycle is protected by seat-belts. Purpose-built orthoses support the paralysed person’s legs.

Self-adhesive electrodes are fixed to the skin of the thighs and connected to the stimulator. The stimulator has a special program for cycling. The necessary parameters such as stimulation frequency and strength are easily adjusted. The individual parameters for each user can be saved.

At the push of a button cycling starts. The cyclist uses a “throttle” to control the stimulation intensity and thus the speed of the RehaBike. A sensor in the cranks continuously informs micro computers in the stimulator about the position of the cyclist’s legs. The micro computers calculate at what time each muscle needs to be stimulated and send the stimulation impulses to the electrodes on the legs. Thus they create a fl uent pedalling movement.

Regular exercise of this kind improves the cyclist’s strength and endurance. RehaStim contains rechargeable batteries which allow independent cycling for several hours.

Medical research shows that the activation of paralysed legs through Functional Electrical Stimulation boosts the metabolism and the cardiovascular system.

Risks such as arteriosclerosis, coronary heart disease and pressure sores can be reduced. The musculature rebuilds and the bone structure improves. The person affected by paralysis takes a more active part in life and gains new mobility.

RehaBike is driven by paralysed muscles

A video shows the use of RehaBike.

To play the video Windows Media Player (ver. 9) has to be installed.

pure resolution (208x156, 2.5 MB)

normal resolution (320x240, 8 MB)

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