Reeve grant funds high-tech physical therapy bike

An $18,000 grant from the Christopher Reeve Foundation to UM’s School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Scienceis allowing wheelchair users with poor sensation or no sensation in their legs to ride a stationary reclining bicycle.

The school purchased an Ergys 2 with the grant, the same bike model that Reeve rode in his rehabilitation. The bike provides functional electrical stimulation to muscles disconnected from the brain through spinal cord injuries. The stimulation moves muscles in the leg to pedal the bike.

James Laskin directs New Directions, a physical therapy gym and research arm of the school. He said the system uses electrical current delivered by electrodes attached to three main muscle groups on each leg. The electrodes are connected to a sophisticated computer that gives direction to the muscles much like a brain would in a person without an injury.

"Just because the spinal cord has been severed and there is not a connection between your muscle and your brain, there’s still a connection between the muscle and the spinal cord,” Laskin said.

He said the bike is a great way for patients with spinal cord injuries, multiple sclerosis, spinal meningitis, stroke or brain injuries to keep up on their lower-body exercise and receive the basic benefits of exercise, such as lower blood pressure and heart rate and control of blood sugar. “They get all of those benefits, although they can’t do it themselves,” Laskin said.

Laskin said the bike is available for use by the public through the New Directions program. Currently about 11 people use it as part of their exercise program. He said Ergys 2 is the only one available to the public in Montana and several bordering states.

The bike is being used to teach physical therapy students, and Laskin said he has been offered a research contract from the maker of the bike, Therapeutic Alliances Inc.

Three years ago New Directions received a $15,000 Reeve Foundation grant for its Pneumex Unweighting System, which allows people who have difficulty walking because of weakness, pain and poor balance to use the treadmill for exercise and rehabilitation.

New Directions offers these equipment options and an array of physical exercise equipment and programs designed for people with disabilities or those recovering from strokes, brain injuries and other debilitating conditions. For more information, contact Laskin at 406-243-4757.