RoboFit’s high-tech exoskeletons provide a unique rehabilitation therapy. Photo: RoboFit.
Innovative technology being used in Wollongong is creating opportunities for people managing injuries, illnesses and conditions such as multiple sclerosis to improve mobility by retraining their brain.
Ulladulla dad Dean Howcroft received the ‘shocking’ diagnosis of MS in 2004.
“When you’re 24 you carry that air of invincibility,” Dean said. “I really hadn’t been sick at all, never been in hospital and was kind of proud of that, and then I was out riding my motorbike and out of nowhere got double vision.
“In my mind back then I thought it was something old ladies got so being hit with that news was pretty confronting.”
Dean managed his symptoms with a healthy lifestyle but a few years later noticed numbness in his legs.
Almost a decade after his diagnosis, he started fatiguing quickly on walks and dragging his toes.
With a young family, he felt the toll of his mobility struggles.
“I now walk with two sticks; it’s extremely laboured,” Dean said. “I use a wheelchair when I need to and that’s the biggest challenge in my life.”
But traditional treatment options didn’t offer much relief.
“The medications never really sat well with me,” he said. “A lot of the side effects were worse than the symptoms that I was experiencing.”
He found success with cold therapy and ice baths which he still integrates into his regular routine.
“I used to be able to get out of the ice bath and walk around the block like nothing was wrong, so even now I have a cold shower every day and it gets me going, just frees up my movement.”
He also founded the men’s resilience group, Brothers of Bhundoo, which helped combat the mental and social challenges associated with the condition.
The group now consists of more than 40 members who meet up monthly and support each other.
“It just gives the guys an opportunity to work through any challenges that they have in their lives but also celebrate the wins.”
Dean Howcroft has managed his MS for two decades, but this treatment has added another therapy to his toolkit. Photo: Supplied.
These supports and therapies have helped Dean build a toolkit, but after seeing a random advertisement on Facebook for RoboFit, he was able to add an innovative new treatment to his set.
Robofit offers a unique approach to rehabilitation with the option for some clients to utilise high-tech robotics to improve outcomes.
The exoskeleton technology taps into the electrical signals sent from the brain to the muscles, to help clients move, without forcing the action on them.
“Some exoskeletons that are currently on the market are what we call passive skeletons – so somebody will go into the skeleton and it’s essentially a machine that will perform whatever movement it is preprogrammed to once you hit the go button,” RoboFit physiotherapist Jess Reid said.
“Ours are very different – they will not move if the client doesn’t move.”
“We put electrodes on the skin over particular muscle groups that we want the robot to hear and then when that muscle receives the signal the robot also hears the signal.”
The innovative technology was brought to Australia by Illawarra couple Dan Hillyer and Maryanne Harris after Dan suffered a spinal injury 15 years ago.
The opportunities go beyond spinal cord injuries.
“Every single person is different, that’s why we need clinicians and can’t just go, alright, anyone come on in if you’re having difficulty,” Jess said.
“It is very client specific but we use it for all sorts of conditions, so we have quite a few that have genetic conditions, autoimmune conditions; we see quite a lot of success with clients with mobility issues who have multiple sclerosis.
“Clients with stroke we use pretty commonly, cerebral palsy, post-orthopedic trauma.”
When Dean got in touch with RoboFit, he was identified as a client who could benefit from this technology, and so far he has seen some pretty positive results, particularly with adjusting his walking pattern.
“Basically it’s like neuroplasticity training – you’re retraining the brain and the body and the muscles and the nerve endings to what a correct walking gate for me is,” Dean said.
“From what I’ve seen and felt when I’ve been in the machine I can then come home and coordinate and emulate that working – it’s like I’ve remembered and then it’s up to me to put in that extra bit of work at home.
“We’re also able to design at home rehab exercises and what’s going to be the most beneficial things to incorporate.”
Real-time mapping of the muscle movements also has allowed Dean to seek further treatments.
“During this training, because it’s reading the muscles we’ve seen things we didn’t know – like there was a muscle pulling my ankle outwards, so there was an overactive muscle,” he said.
Jess said mapping could even help overcome emotional barriers for some clients.
“For some people it can be such a mental boost,” she said. “It can sometimes be that hurdle that they felt so disempowered for such a long time, and seeing that their body is capable of doing things and is doing what their body is asking them to do is such a powerful moment.”
RoboFit has rehabilitation centres in Wollongong, Sydney, Paramatta and Brisbane, but it is still a commitment for clients like Dean to make the trek.
“An hour drive is alright, but two, especially with a young family, it gets up there logistically and is expensive,” he said.
He’d like to see governments invest further in these kinds of therapies to offer options beyond pharmaceutical treatments.
“Ideally in a perfect world if this type of technology was readily available so I could be in it every day that would be amazing and I honestly feel like from what I’ve seen that it would be so beneficial.
“Let’s get it more into the regional areas.”
To find out more visit the RoboFit website.
