Kerala Family Health Centre first in India to install Robotic Gait Trainer for advanced rehab
Patients are secured in place using a belt-like support, allowing the machine to guide their walking movements and exercises accurately.
Patients are secured in place using a belt-like support, allowing the machine to guide their walking movements and exercises accurately.
Patients are secured in place using a belt-like support, allowing the machine to guide their walking movements and exercises accurately.
A modern Robotic Gait Trainer system has become operational at the Noolppuzha Family Health Centre (FHC) in Kerala's Wayanad. It has set a national model by integrating advanced rehabilitation facilities into primary healthcare. The new system is designed to help patients who have been immobilised due to cerebral stroke, spinal injuries, cerebral palsy, or other forms of disability regain mobility and return to normal life.
This is the first time a Robotic Gait Trainer system has been installed in a Family Health Centre anywhere in the country. Apart from Noolppuzha, the only other government health centre in Kerala equipped with this state-of-the-art physiotherapy system is the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital. The device can be programmed in multiple modes to suit the specific needs of each patient.
What else it helps with
In addition to providing physiotherapy for the knees and waist, the machine offers an air-walk mode, in which it moves the patient’s legs without them touching the ground, a mode ideal for those just beginning gait training. From there, patients can progress through three other modes, namely passive mode, Assistive mode and Active Mode. In Passive mode, the machine provides full support to patients who are unable to walk on their own, while in Assistive mode, only partial support is given, allowing patients to use some of their own strength. In Active mode, patients walk largely on their own, with the machine ensuring stability and preventing falls.
The Gait Trainer can also function as a treadmill, and virtual reality (VR) technology has been incorporated to offer more such training methods.
Customisable trainer
The system benefits both children and adults. Patients are secured in place using a belt-like support, allowing the machine to guide their walking movements and exercises accurately. Each session will be adjusted to individual needs, as prescribed by doctors and physiotherapists. On average, the machine can train a patient to take 900 steps in just 20 minutes. To ensure smooth functioning, a technical expert from Genrobotics, the Thiruvananthapuram-based company that developed the system, will be stationed at the centre for one year to train staff.
The project has been implemented with a government allocation of Rs 2.5 crore under the Wayanad Package. According to Medical Officer Dr V P Dahar Muhammad, the therapy will be offered free of cost to patients at Noolppuzha FHC, compared to around Rs 2,000 per session in private hospitals.
The Robotic Gait Trainer has already begun pilot treatments, and pa,tients from different parts of Wayanad as well as from neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have started coming in for treatment here.