There is also a seat behind the elliptical, supported by the frame for the harness, to allow for resting. There are additional motors and pulleys to drive the machine when it?s in assisted-care mode, a bodyweight-support system, and a ramp on one side and a small stairway on the other (with handrails) to make it more accessible to patients. For instance, the control panel at the front of the machine (which normally has heart rate and distance monitors) was modified so it can be converted from a normal elliptical into ?ICARE mode.? The ICARE is, as Nelson said, more or less a retrofitted elliptical machine that has ?some additional features? built around and into it.

But we came up with a good name, and it?s not a stupid acronym. ?We were throwing around acronyms, and we took the first letters of the words we wanted to use and did sort of a Scrabble approach. ?We knew some of the key words we wanted to include,? Nelson said. The name itself was the result of a collaborative effort led by Nelson, who had some experience titling new devices. ?Those are the obstacles we tried to solve.? ?People who need this are having trouble accessing the appropriate therapies because they have to be in a clinic with a physical therapist or because their condition makes it hard to get up onto the equipment,? Nelson said. (A grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research supported the work done by the students.) It?s an electronically-modified elliptical machine that?s more accessible to patients from both a physical and an economic standpoint. The team of researchers, along with students from the University of Nebraska, invented ICARE, which stands for Intelligently Controlled Assistive Rehabilitation Elliptical. Judith Burnfield and her team at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb. To create something that was smaller and cheaper, University of Nebraska mechanical and materials engineering associate professor Carl Nelson worked with Dr.

The machines work, but they require a lot of money and space. Stroke victims trying to build their motor functions back up during recovery typically work with physical therapists on huge machines that combine the arm exercise capabilities of an elliptical with the slow-moving function of a treadmill, all while being held upright by a harness attached to the ceiling or some other overhead structure.

Icare indiana