Cardinal Hill Hospital in Lexington is officially unveiling its newest piece of rehabilitation equipment. It's called G-EO and hospital officials say Cardinal Hill is only the second rehab facility in the U.S. to offer the technology. The G-EO is a robotic gait training system. Dr. Lumy Sawaki is Director of Research at Cardinal Hill. "I cannot ask our therapists, for example, to do 2,000 in one session, so that's where the technology comes to play a very important role for rehabilitation," said Sawaki. "But, at the same time, we need the expertise of our therapists, our professionals, to make sure we are using the technology the best way possible."
Sawaki says the G-EO system, complete with straps and leg motion capacity, allows the patient to make some mistakes as part of the learning process. Officials say it helps train the brain because of the repetition and intensity of necessary movements to rewire the central nervous system.
Three-year-old Dalton Baker of London suffered a spinal cord injury in a car wreck more than a year ago. His mother Courtney Deaton says the G-EO is making quite a difference in Dalton's recovery.
"It allows him to just get more endurance building muscle. He's gained more motion back in his lower legs and lower calf muscles since we've started the machine and also he is just walking better and has more balance," said Deaton.
Cardinal Hill is Kentucky's largest provider of inpatient physical rehabilitation services.
