Rehabilitation technology for standing and walking after spinal cord injury

The purpose of this paper is to review the rehabilitation technology available for standing and walking by the spinal-cord injured. Existing aids for standing and walking and those aids under development in research laboratories are discussed. One conclusion is that therapeutic and perhaps functional standing could be achieved in a greater number of individuals using existing technology; however it must also be realized that some barriers still exist which prevent various technologies from being more widely used. Studies which measure the benefits of standing, and more fully establish minimum standing times to achieve these benfits, are needed. Standing is a necessary component of many tasks, and it is unlikely a single type of standing aid is likely to perform adequately in every situation that requires standing. Therefore it may be prudent to have a variety of standing aids available to patients.