Good Shepherd uses device introduced at Paris Olympics to help people walk

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Good Shepherd Rehabilitation is the first clinical user of robotic exoskeleton technology that made history at the Paris Olympics. 

Good Shepherd said the hands-free device is designed to help people with stroke and spinal cord injury to walk. 

Good Shepherd’s specially trained clinical teams have trialed the technology, known as Wandercraft’s Atalante X, with inpatient rehab patients at Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital at 3200 Center Valley Parkway in Center Valley.  

Later this fall, Good Shepherd said the exoskeleton will be available for outpatient neurorehabilitation patients at Good Shepherd’s Hyland Center for Health & Technology, 850 S. 5th Street in Allentown. 

Wandercraft’s exoskeleton took center stage in Paris earlier this summer when Parathlete Kevin Piette, a former tennis player who sustained a spinal cord injury in an accident 11 years ago, became the first person to carry the Olympic Torch in an exoskeleton. 

“We are excited about the potential of this new type of exoskeleton to revolutionize patient care,” said Emily Lyter, administrative director of Good Shepherd Learns, Creates and Research, the team that oversees the Fleming Center at Good Shepherd.  

“Without having to use crutches or a walker for balance, Atalante allows a more diverse range of movement patterns we use in our daily lives. Aside from walking, patients can practice activities of daily living, such as reaching for a cup in a cupboard, setting a dinner table or even playing a modified game of pickleball,” Lyter said. 

“Through the Fleming Center for Robotics in Rehabilitation and the incredible support of the Fleming Foundation, we’re able to test, trial and adopt new technologies for our patients,” she added. 

The benefits of hands-free exoskeletons are improved endurance, increased step counts during walking, increased flexibility, the ability to use hands during functional balance activities, and pain and spasticity management, according to Good Shepherd. 

Kevin Oldt demonstrated the technology inside Empower+ on Good Shepherd’s Center Valley campus on Wednesday. Oldt sustained a spinal cord injury in a snowmobile accident several years ago, leaving him paralyzed. 

 “It feels really good to stand,” Oldt said.