Specialized Programs & Services

Research and technology in rehabilitation are essential to helping people with disabilities fully achieve the highest level of independence. As a nationally recognized rehabilitation leader, Madonna has some of the most advanced rehabilitation technology available.

Madonna is creating the next breakthroughs in modern rehabilitation through research projects in the Institute for Rehabilitation Science and Engineering. Our patients have access to the most progressive clinical studies and rehabilitation treatments in the country.

• ICARE: The Intelligently Controlled Assistive Rehabilitation Elliptical trainer was developed specifically to help individuals with physical disabilities and chronic conditions improve their walking ability and cardiovascular fitness. The technology and training system, developed at Madonna under a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, helps individuals build strength, mobility, control and endurance so that they can walk and move more easily.

• Lokomat: Studies show that locomotion therapy supported by a robotic assisted device on a treadmill is an effective intervention for improving over-ground walking function caused by neurological diseases and injuries. The customized support and limb guidance provided by the Lokomat allows patients who have a wide variety of walking impairments, to use this device both in the inpatient and outpatient setting. The Lokomat is used to improve mobility in individuals following stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy and other neurological diseases and injuries.

  Madonna's pediatric Lokomat, one of 12 in the country, is the most progressive technology available to help some children with mobility limitations regain their ability to walk.

• RT300 Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycle: Patients seated on the bike have electrodes attached to the surface of their legs by their therapist. The system sends computer-generated, low-level electrical impulses to patients’ legs, which cause coordinated contractions of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteal muscles. Sensors provide constant feedback to a computer, which controls the sequence of muscle contractions as well as the resistance to pedaling. The result is smooth and natural pedaling with patients’ leg muscles providing the power to move the bike.

• Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training (BWSTT): Body weight supported treadmill training has been shown to be an effective way of retraining gait in patients with neurological injuries resulting from stroke, brain injury or spinal cord injury. BWSTT involves fitting a patient in a harness, which is attached to an overhead suspension system positioned over the treadmill portion of the unit. This suspension system is used to support a percentage of the patient’s body weight as the patient walks on the treadmill at various speeds. Specially trained therapists provide manual assistance to improve the patient’s walking pattern, postural control, motor recovery, strength and endurance.

• RT300 Functional Electrical Stimulation Cycle: Patients seated on the bike have electrodes attached to the surface of their legs by their therapist. The system sends computer-generated, low-level electrical impulses to patients’ legs, which cause coordinated contractions of the quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteal muscles. Sensors provide constant feedback to a computer, which controls the sequence of muscle contractions as well as the resistance to pedaling. The result is smooth and natural pedaling with patients’ leg muscles providing the power to move the bike.

• Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES): NESS H200 (by Bioness Inc.) a neuroprosthetic device used to improve hand function and voluntary movement in patients with upper extremity hemiparesis or paralysis due to stroke, spinal cord injury or brain injury. It consists of 5 surface electrodes within the device used to stimulate and activate the muscles of the hand. The device is used to assist patients with grasping and releasing objects and for activities of daily living (ADLs).

  NESS L300 (by Bioness Inc.) a neuroprosthetic device used to prevent foot drop during gait for patients with hemiparesis due to stroke, incomplete spinal cord injury or brain injury. It consists of a small wireless gait sensor, a leg cuff and a hand-held control unit. The leg cuff sits just below the knee and contains a stimulation unit and electrodes. When the heel comes off the ground, wireless signals from the gait sensor are sent to the stimulation unit in the leg cuff which stimulates the muscles to contract and lift the patient's foot while walking.

• Wayne Saccadic Fixator: The Wayne Saccadic Fixator has been the developmental optometric for testing, evaluating and developing accurate and rapid eye-hand coordination, spatial integration and reaction times. The Wayne Saccadic Fixator is a wall-mounted instrument. Its touch-sensitive membrane panel contains 33 LED lights arranged in three concentric circles with one light at the center. The user responds to the appearance of a light by pressing the membrane button surrounding it. The built-in computer provides a nearly unlimited variety of activities for clinical use.

• Dynavision 2000: The Dynavision 2000 is a computerized board used by occupational therapists to improve peripheral vision, reaction time, arm coordination and ability to find objects to one side or in the environment. Dynavision 2000 as a device designed to improve visual motor skills in patients whose visual and motor function has been compromised by injury or disease. It has been successfully used to improve function in adults with limitations from stroke, head injury, amputation, spinal cord injury and orthopedic injury.

• Proprio 4000: The Proprio 4000™ provides balance training through Dynamic Range of Motion (D-ROM) technology, which provides a multidirectional, dynamic platform and motion analysis that evaluates actual performance. The platform movement and patient’s movement work together to reproduce real-life movements and provide a controlled, yet safe, exercise. This equipment is a proven method in treating patients with lower extremity orthopedic injuries. In addition, it is effective for treating patients with stroke, brain injury, or other neurological conditions resulting in balance disturbance.

• SmartWheel: The SmartWheel (the computerized, blue disc that attaches to a wheel of a wheelchair, shown at left) examines manual wheelchair use by analyzing each push on the handrim. The SmartWheel measures push force, push frequency, push length, push smoothness, speed and much more. It creates automated reports that allow therapists to optimize wheelchair set-up and push style to reduce repetitive stress; equipment selection and insurance justification for reimbursement; and client evaluations through comparisons with a national database.

• Game Ready: RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) is a standard therapy when treating acute and chronic injury, as well as orthopedic surgery rehabilitation. The Game Ready™ uses a combination of circulating cold therapy and intermittent compression, which combines the two key components of the RICE regimen in one easy-to-use system. The device can help in the treatment of a variety of musculoskeletal injuries, including ankle sprains or strains, as well as post-operative rehabilitation of knees, shoulders, ankles and elbows.

• Precision Loading & Unloading: Precision loading and unloading provides the mechanism for low-impact kinetic exercises in an upright functional position. Rehabilitation can be started sooner, using task-specific functional exercise without pain. The treadmill, stationary bike and elliptical trainer can be incorporated into precision loading and unloading therapy sessions. Precision loading and unloading is effective in treating patients with orthopedic injuries, back pain, partial- weight bearing restrictions, lower extremity injuries, as well as neurological conditions resulting in gait impairment.