Technology abounds
According to industry experts, computer-related equipment is becoming more popular as physical therapists are taking advantage of the ease of the technology. Even a technology familiar to many homes has found customers among physical therapists - Nintendo's Wii entertainment system. Although the Wii continues to be very popular, there are other computer-related systems tailored more specifically to handle physical therapy.

BTE Technologies, headquartered in Hanover, Md. and Greenwood Village, Colo., recently teamed with the Keiser Corporation to create the Tech Trainer, a bilateral cable system that provides physical therapists, athletic trainers, and strength conditioning specialists with intelligent objective data capture using pneumatic resistance technology.
"The Tech Trainer is an intelligent cable system. We've taken a high-end, expensive, sophisticated technology-that some would see as unaffordable or unattainable-and we've created a new product at the fraction of the cost of other systems," says Stas Obrebski, creative manager of BTE Technologies. "It uses a pneumatic bilateral pulley system providing a high tech treatment and exercise with real-time visual feedback and progress tracking."

The evolution of PT technology has resulted from more companies focusing on providing physical therapists with highly advanced assessment methods, tools for pinpointing problems and areas to focus on in training.

Like the Wii, many of these products weren't even designed for the PT industry, but manufacturers learned their equipment was being used by therapists so they shifted marketing efforts to address that interest.

Lars Barfod, CEO of AlterG, Inc., said its Anti-Gravity Treadmill was originally targeted at the athletic community and once the company discovered physical therapists had an interest, they made some adjustments.

"When you're dealing with an athlete, it's not a big issue for them to get in and out of a product. They're very athletic," Barfod says. "However, when you're dealing with people suffering from Parkinson's disease, stroke or a knee replacement . . . that's a different story."

The modifications resulted in the introduction last year of the M300, a restructured Anti-Gravity Treadmill, which is now being used in mainstream physical therapy clinics throughout the country.

Ara Uebelhor Knepp, a physical therapist with AthletiCo, which offers physical therapy, occupational therapy, work rehabilitation, and fitness services throughout Chicago and central Illinois, says the facilities have been using the AlterG treadmill with great success.

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