SportsArt Madonna ICARE

ICARE is a fully-integrated system that provides a safe, effective method for assisting patients with neuromuscular disorders resulting from stroke, TBI, SCI and other injuries or conditions. The controlled assistive rehab design relieves a single clinician from hours of strenuous manual manipulation and expands patient access to assistive technology, allowing them to improve their walking and cardiovascular fitness.

Developed at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and Research Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska, ICARE’s intelligently-controlled, motor-assisted leg movements closely mimic the kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) patterns of walking. Noted in development studies, ICARE training can help individuals regain or retain walking and fitness in part because muscle and cardiorespiratory training demands can be customized to the unique needs of individuals during rehab and following discharge. Special focus was applied during development to ensure assistance, with partial body weight support and motor guidance of moveable foot plates and reciprocating handles, allowing individuals to accomplish the required repetitions. The ICARE is available for both home and clinical usage.

Relearning to walk and remaining physically active are important rehabilitation goals for individuals with weakness, numbness or balance problems and those recovering from a disabling injury or illness. To regain walking ability, thousands of step-like movements are required to achieve lasting neuroplasticity gains. Often these individuals face barriers due to the lack of equipment that appropriately accommodates the needs of compromised muscles. Enter ICARE.

Developed at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital and Research Institute in Lincoln, Nebraska, ICARE is a fully-integrated system that provides a safe, effective method for assisting patients with neuromuscular disorders resulting from stroke, TBI, partial SCI, and other injuries or diseases. ICARE’s intelligent control provides a movement that is neither always assistive or always resistive. It is designed to provide an “assist as needed” approach that is similar to what a therapist provides physically and intuitively while gait training a patient. The ICARE frees clinicians from hours of strenuous manual lifting and advancing of the legs and expands patient access to assistive technology, allowing them to improve their walking and cardiovascular fitness.

ICARE’s leg movements closely mimic the kinematic and electromyographic (EMG) patterns of walking. Noted in development studies, ICARE training can help individuals regain or retain the flexibility and strength required for walking, particularly if the muscle demands are customised to those with weakness during rehab. Special focus was applied during development to ensure the appropriate levels of assistance are available for individuals to accomplish the required repetitions, both with partial body weight support and motor-assistance from the footplates.

Judith M. Burnfield, Ph.D., P.T., is Director of the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering, Director of the Movement and Neurosciences Center and the Clifton Chair in Physical Therapy and Movement Sciences at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital. Dr. Burnfield earned her Ph.D. in Biokinesiology from the University of Southern California and completed her post-doctoral training at the Pathokinesiology Laboratory at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Burnfield holds adjunct faculty appointments at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the University of South Dakota.

Dr. Burnfield’s research aims to 1) enhance the independence and quality of life of individuals with and without disabilities, emphasising locomotive disorders such as gait; 2) prevent secondary medical complications in persons with chronic medical conditions; and 3) expand rehabilitation therapists’ capacity to meet existing, evolving, and future societal health care needs through development and application of clinical innovations and technology. Her teaching emphasis includes normal and pathologic gait, orthotics, prosthetics, and biomechanics.