Bioness Inc announced that the results of a 42-week follow-up study showed that the Bioness L300 Foot Drop System can improve walking in stroke survivors. According to a Bioness news release, the study, titled “Response and Prediction of Improvement in Gait Speed from Functional Electrical Stimulation in Post-Stroke Drop Foot,” is an extension of the primary 30-week analysis demonstrating a similar impact with greater satisfaction when the L300 was compared to an ankle foot orthosis. (AFO).
The group experienced an immediate increase of walking speed of 19%, which continued to improve to 33.3% at 30 weeks as compared to baseline. The Bioness news release notes that this progressed to 45% improvement at the end of 42 weeks. Michael O’Dell, MD, lead author of the paper, says, “In addition to statistically important changes, we also looked carefully at practical, clinically important changes in ambulation as a result of the treatment.”
Overall, the results of the study demonstrate that individuals with foot drop following stroke continued to show clinically meaningful and statically significant improvement in gait speed using the Bioness L300 up to 42 weeks.
O’Dell states, “This study demonstrates that subjects with stroke can achieve a meaningful improvement in their ambulation with functional electrical stimulation therapy, and that the changes can be sustained over time. Moreover, at 30 weeks the subjects in this study walked faster with and without the device, indicating a therapeutic effect occurred over time.”
O’ Dell adds, “These results demonstrate the ability of the Bioness L300 to help stroke patients achieve meaningful, long-term benefit, even years after their stroke.”
[Source: Bioness]
