A TREADMILL APPARATUS AND HARNESS SUPPORT FOR EVALUATION AND REHABILITATION OF GAIT

This report describes a treadmill apparatus for the evaluation and reh abilitation of gait in disabled persons. The apparatus incorporates a body weight support system as well as mechanisms to change certain con ditions: treadmill belt speed, upward-downward and lateral slopes, and provision of obstacles. The apparatus enables elements of a treadmill walking pattern to be visible in persons for whom gait evaluation or rehabilitation may not otherwise be possible. It also allows for explo ration of factors that limit the adaptability of gait in person after disease or injury by changing the mechanical demand of the locomotor t ask. (C) 1995 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy Rehabilitation