The Agilik Movement is a community-building campaign to crowdfund Agilik (TM) smart orthoses for children and teens with knee-extension deficiencies.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 14, 2024) - Bionic Power Inc. has launched a community-building campaign, calling on people to join the Agilik Movement to crowdfund CAD$500,000 to build and donate 25 Agilik™ devices to children and teens in Canada who cannot obtain insurance coverage for the device.
The made-in-Canada Agilik is a custom smart orthosis, designed to help people with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, hemiparesis, and other gait and mobility disorders be more mobile and independent. It looks like a regular knee-ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO), but it's embedded with smart technology that improves the way the wearer walks.
The Agilik is changing the standard of care for children and teens with knee-extension deficiencies. It works as a physical therapy and gait-training device, utilizing the user's motor control and allowing them to maintain control at every step. The Agilik improves the range of knee motion during walking, increasing walking efficiency and reducing fatigue. At the same time, wearing the Agilik helps rebuild weakened muscles and enhances the wearer's overall mobility and walking function.
"Our son started using the Agilik a couple of months ago and it's making a huge difference in his life, and ours, already," says Pat Hinton. "Paxton's always been an active kid, but he's now able to participate in activities he wasn't able to before because of his wheelchair; things many people take for granted, like riding the school bus with his friends or standing up to throw or hit a ball."
In addition to being Paxton's dad, Pat is also a licensed physical therapist. "As soon as Paxton started wearing the Agilik, his posture significantly improved, and he started walking more upright. We've seen his endurance extremely enhanced. The Agilik gives him a physical boost and a psychological one, too. When it's easier for him to move, he wants to move more, which provides significant therapeutic benefit."
Paxton and his friend, PA, standing taller and walking stronger, thanks to their Agilik smart orthoses.
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For the Bionic Power team, the Agilik Movement is about raising awareness about the device and what it can do.
"There are hundreds of thousands of kids who can benefit from the Agilik, but very few people know the device or the technology exists," says Dr. Gualtiero Guadagni, Bionic Power's CEO. "We're a small company of passionate people who have developed a life-changing therapeutic option for children with pathological gait. The Agilik can be used at home, school, the clinic, and everywhere life takes you. Our dream is to enable these kids to keep walking independently for life. We need your support to build and donate Agilik devices and to spread the word; we need a movement behind us!"
Mobilizing a community to crowdfund devices on GoFundMe makes the Agilik accessible to 25 children and young people in Canada for whom it would not otherwise be an option. While the Agilik Movement campaign is focused specifically on young people, the Agilik device is also for adults.
The Agilik is the result of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center and Bionic Power. Underpinning the device is the idea of using an active orthosis to help with crouch gait-from Dr. Diane Damiano and Dr. Thomas C. Bulea at the NIH Clinical Center-coupled with more than 14 years of technology development by Bionic Power and field testing with military users around the world. The Agilik has been in clinical trials at the NIH (Bethesda, Maryland), BC Children's Hospital (Vancouver, British Columbia), and IRCCS Eugenio Medea in Italy, testing its effectiveness for pediatric physical therapy and gait training. Trials completed at the NIH have shown concrete biomechanical improvements across trial participants. The preliminary results of long-term trials show a 'training effect' where there are cumulative improvements in patients' natural gait, session after session.
"Every person who shares, donates, and follows the campaign will have an impact beyond the donated devices. When you join the Agilik Movement, you demonstrate you share our vision and dream: to improve quality of life by enhancing mobility," continues Dr. Guadagni. "Let's stand together and tackle the battle of knee-extension deficiencies, one child, one device, and one step at a time!"
People can watch Paxton's story, donate to the Agilik Movement campaign on GoFundMe, and learn more - including about eligibility requirements - at https://bionic-power.com/agilik-movement/
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About Bionic Power Inc.
Bionic Power helps people Stand Taller and Walk Stronger™. The company designs and develops lower-body smart orthoses that enhance personal mobility and quality of life for people with knee-extension deficiencies and mobility disorders. The Agilik™ smart orthosis is designed to help people with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, hemiparesis, and other gait and mobility disorders be more mobile and independent. Learn more at https://bionic-power.com/
Disclaimers
Drs. Damiano and Bulea are employees of the NIH Clinical Center, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, an Agency under the US Department of Health and Human Services. Any reference to NIH should not be viewed as an endorsement of Bionic Power, Inc., its products, or services. For this campaign, Bionic Power has calculated an internal cost of the Agilik bilateral system of approximately CDN $20,000. This includes a proportion of the manufacturing cost (time and materials), a proportion of the campaign running costs including trials in the field of the device for each candidate recipient, the training of the user's orthotist and physical therapist, the follow-on support to users, and a one-year warranty period. The Agilik is a medical device which requires a medical prescription and final assembly in a custom knee-ankle-foot orthosis made by a certified technician. Recipient will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis, according to the campaign terms and conditions, provided they have a medical prescription and the support of a certified technician that Bionic Power will train for the installation of the Agilik.
Media Contact
Megan Helmer
Puzzlewood Communication Inc.
1.604.240.5223 | megan@puzzlewood.ca
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