ASHBURN, Va., Jan. 30, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Aretech, LLC, an advanced rehabilitation technology leader, announced the release of Ovation at the American Physical Therapy Association's Combined Sections Meeting (APTA-CSM) in Washington, DC. Ovation is the first technology in the world to offer dynamic body-weight support and fall protection for patients training on a treadmill who weigh up to 700 pounds.
"Ovation builds upon our 11 years of experience with robotic body-weight support systems to create the only treadmill system for gait and other functional activities designed for the widest range of individuals, including bariatric patients. Over the past few years, therapists have been asking us to create a rehabilitation technology that can also be used by their largest patients, some nearing 700 lbs," said Dr. Joe Hidler, CEO of Aretech. "We're proud to deliver on that. Ovation has the highest dynamic body-weight support capability in the world and can make an individual feel up to 350 pounds lighter. This, we hope, will encourage participation by those who find walking difficult due to weakness, load-induced pain and strain on joints." Dr. Hidler highlights some of the other features which are unique to Ovation, "We've created an interactive experience for the patient with an infotainment display with virtual walks, photo galleries and cognitive tasks, while providing constant feedback on the heart rate, calories burned, treadmill speed, and other valuable metrics."
At APTA-CSM, therapists had the opportunity to experience Ovation. "Therapists learned how broad the applications of Ovation could be for all of their patients. They were excited at the prospect of using Ovation for their neurological patients for manual assisted treadmill training as well as being able to provide their bariatric patients with the same level of rehabilitative care," said Don Gronachan, Aretech's Director of Product Development.
About Ovation
Ovation uses the same best-in-class robotic body-weight support technology that is used in Aretech's ZeroG Gait and Balance System. Ovation gives therapists the opportunity to safely treat the widest range of adults from 75 to 700 pounds with dynamic body-weight support and fall protection on a treadmill. Ovation's dynamic body-weight support can offload the patient's weight between 25-350 lbs to assist even the heaviest of patients. The system also includes Aretech's proprietary DualArrestTM Fall Protection. Should the patient start to fall, Ovation will prevent their fall and simultaneously stop the treadmill for ultimate safety.
Ovation was designed to be an interactive experience by encouraging participation using an infotainment display mounted in front of the treadmill. Patients can watch their training metrics, set goals such as target heart rate or calories, all while exploring the world through virtual walks and landscapes. A patient resting bench comes standard with Ovation. The patient can simply sit while still connected to the robotic BWS system above to take a break before resuming their session. Ovation captures training intervals so therapists can monitor these breaks in comparison to the level of activity. All session data is saved to a secure database to track progress and outcomes.
"Aretech is proud to continue to advance the field of rehabilitation forward with innovative, first-to-market technologies which has never been seen before," said Hidler. "We have created the first technology that gives therapists the opportunity to treat the widest range of patients safely on a treadmill, including their bariatric patients."
About Aretech
Aretech, headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, is a world leader in developing advanced rehabilitation technologies for improving function and independence. The company has a strong commitment to quality, innovation, and developing technology based on evidence-based research.
SOURCE Aretech
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