Determination Of Body Weight Support; Unloading Patient Weight; Patient Unloading Procedure - biodex NxSTEP 950-485 Instructions For Use And Assembly

Determination of Body Weight Support

Heel/ground contact during ambulation is lost in patients when weight relief is in excess of
40% body weight (Visintin and Barbeau, [1989], Gardner, et al., [1988]) chose a level of
weight relief in which the patient achieved heel/ground contact bilaterally for ten consecutive
steps.
When determining body weight support, keep in mind the patient's comfort, as well as their
pathology level of involvement. A patient who is considerably challenged may require a
greater percentage of weight relief.
Use the scale in the Bibliography section to determine how much body weight is being lifted.
The scale will show the relief amount in pounds and kilograms. For example, 30 pounds
means that the patient will "feel" 30 pounds "lighter". For a 150-pound patient, this would
equal 20% of his or her body weight.

Unloading Patient Weight

NOTE: Instructions for unloading patient weight are detailed in the Using the Unweighing
System segment of the NxStep eLearning course. To watch the video detailing the process,
please go to www.biodex.com/elearning.
The patient unweighing load can set either manually or using the Auto Unload feature.
NOTE: The patient unweighing load can be adjusted by raising or lowering the patient harness
bar at any time; the Auto Unload function does not need to be turned off first. Auto Unload
automatically turns off any time the patient harness bar is adjusted.

Patient Unloading Procedure

Ambulatory Patients:
1. Use the hand-held controller to adjust the height of the patient harness bar to just above the
patient's head.
2. Position the patient and, with the patient standing, adjust the harness as needed before
unloading any weight.
3. For use with a treadmill, or other therapeutic device, press down fully on the locking lever for
all four casters to ensure the casters are fully locked into place.
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