Device helps stroke survivors improve their ability to walk

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - Inventors have turned to one of our four-legged friends to invent a device that is helping stroke survivors improve their ability to walk and changing their lives.

A Sierra Vista man got his Kickstart Friday, the first person in southern Arizona to be fitted with the medical device.

Army Captain Mark Lazarcheff described what happened in October 2013.

"It was a massive right side stroke which left my left side paralyzed," Lazarcheff said. "We went into a hospital and I ended up staying in a hospital bed for almost two years."

Lazarcheff said there have been dark days for him and his family, but he has come a long way since then.

Now he's taking the next step in his recovery.

He has gone home with a Kickstart, a device that is strapped to his left leg.

"The secret sauce is in here, what we call an exotendon. It runs from the hip all the way down to the ankle and here's a spring. It provides support and stability, tension on the tendon. Every step somebody takes it will stretch and store a lot of energy and provide a lot of support and stability and it will also help somebody lift their leg off the ground at the end of the step to swing through," said Brian Glaister, president and CEO, and co-founder of Cadence Biomedical, the company that developed the Kickstart.

What was the inspiration for the device?

A horse, specifically the tendons in its rear legs.

"When a horse starts a step, that tendon stretches and stores a lot of energy and then helps lift the leg off the ground for the next step. And this is a big reason why horses can run with 50 percent less muscular effort than humans can, because the tendons are doing a lot of the work," Glaister said. "So we thought that, if a tendon is like a spring, if we put a really long spring on a human, then maybe we could make walking more efficient. And it turns out to be really effective for helping people with neurological deficits."

Glaister said that includes stroke patients, people with spinal cord injuries and people with degenerative conditions like multiple sclerosis.

The Kickstart helps stop the stroke patient's common hyperextension of the knee that eventually seriously damages the knee.

Plus, with the device, the patient uses a lot less energy, meaning more endurance for rehabilitation.

Lazarcheff said he can feel his muscles getting stronger.

"I got muscle pain from using muscles that I hadn't really worked out," he said.

Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist Kent Sluder has been working with Lazarcheff at Pongratz Orthotics & Prosthetics.

Sluder said, though it's not the "latest and greatest" device, he likes it because most insurances will pay for it, which is unlike the situation with other, more complicated devices.

Glaister said Medicare, the Veterans Administration, Workers Compensation and most health insurance will cover the Kickstart.

Sluder has been preparing Lazarcheff to go home with his new Kickstart and will follow his progress.

"Do we see drastic improvements in his gait right away? No, But it's something that's going to come in time as he keeps using those muscles and as he gets stronger. He's going to progress - again - getting a better gait cycle and consuming less energy throughout the day," Sluder said. "I hopefully like to see him where he progresses, where he doesn't have to have an assist or device, where he can get around maybe just with a cane."

Lazarcheff said he has a lot of plans, and the Kickstart will help him realize his dream of helping people with disabilities.

He wants to be an inspiration as others have inspired him.

"I'm getting a trike and I'm going to be able to ride competitively to support these people and take it back home and show people with disabilities - military and others - there's something beyond being trapped in your bed," he said. "You can get out and do things."

For now, he's working hard for his wife and his 8-year-old daughter, the person he calls his light.

"Be able to walk more, take that walk with my wife or go with my daughter up to the park," Lazarcheff said. "I feel like I have so much more to give."