New device helps MS patients walk

NBC
Published: November 20, 2008

Just walking through the grocery store is something most of take for granted.

But for one woman suffering with multiple sclerosis, walking was impossible until now.
Delsie was an executive happily married and very active.

Then one morning she woke up with a numbness and tingling in her arm that eventually spread.
Six months later, she was diagnosed with m-s.

For years she struggled as the disease progressed.

She eventually lost the ability to move around without help.

“My sister had bought me a scooter and I was using the scooter probably 80 percent of my life. I couldn’t walk,“ said Delsie

Now 15 years after her diagnosis, a new device has changed her life.

The Bioness l300 attaches to her knee and ankle.

It has electrodes placed on the inside and it sends electrical impulse to the muscle.

“For the first time I can walk into buildings and it’s opened a whole new door. I am mobile again,“ said Delsie.

The device helps her lift her foot, and keeps her posture straight.

She controls the impulses herself.

Physical therapy helps her to learn to coordinate the movements.

“It’s been a lot of work but with each day a new advancement and it’s become easier and easier and now I can walk,“ said Delsie. “It changes lives, it really does. And I can walk.“