Parkinson’s Disease Patients Benefit from the LegTutor

Drs.M.D. Gjerstad, Ph.D,O.B. Tysnes, Ph.D and J.P. Larsen, Ph.D From the Department of Neurology (M.D.G.) and The Norwegian Centre for Movement Disorders (M.D.G., J.P.L.), Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger; and the Department of Neurology (O.B.T.), Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway have conducted a, study to explore the risk and correlates of leg restlessness in drug-naive patients with Parkinson disease (PD) as compared to control subjects matched for age and gender.
They reached the conclusion that LMR and not RLS occurs with a near 3-fold higher risk as compared to controls in early PD. The findings underline a need for more accurate assessments of RLS in PD and support the notion that RLS and PD are different entities.
When full blown Parkinson’s disease is a factor the LegTutor has shown to be effective in physical rehabilitation., The LegTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable leg brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the lower extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The LegTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks., The LegTutor™ system, which includes the HandTutor, ArmTutor and 3DTutor, is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.