Just months after the release of its residential rehabilitation device iSmartStep, Andante Medical Devices in White Plains has secured a new partnership with Apple.
The iSmartStep compatible with iPod Touch second and third generation, will make the FDA-approved biofeedback and lower-limb weight monitoring system more mobile.
“Instead of using your computer, the program will be on your iPod Touch,” said Reynald Bonmati, chairman and CEO of Andante Medical Devices, a subsidiary of Andante Medical L.P. “Your iPod Touch will become your (rehabilitation) game console. ”¦ You just touch the image and have access to balance exercises and the results come up very simply.”
Arik Avni, vice president and chief technical officer, broke down the workings of the iSmartStep device.
“We have an insole that is in the shoe, which is connected to a control unit that is connected to the computer with wireless communication,” he said. “You”™re measuring the bodyweight on the hindfoot, the forefoot and the entire foot. So, for instance, if a patient is not putting enough weight on their right foot, you have to go back and teach them the metrical weight bearing while standing and during walking.”
Tom Aller of White Plains, a patient who suffered a stroke 10 years ago, was introduced to the iSmartStep two months ago.
In September, he could put 14.7 pounds on his hindfoot; by October, it had increased to 74.7 pounds.
Physical therapy had enabled him to move without a wheelchair, but the iSmartStep “kept my feet flat so the walking was better.”
Avni, who is also a biomedical engineer and physiotherapist, designed the SmartStep concept and device.
The price of the clinical SmartStep is $5,000; the home-use version is about $2,900 and about $50 a week to rent.
