A research hospital in Baltimore is using a new type of treadmill to help stroke sufferers learn how to walk again. The machine's tread is split down the middle, allowing each side's speed and direction to run independent of each other.
The result can sometimes resemble Michael Jackson's moonwalk. A key feature that doctors say is crucial to learning how to walk again is forcing areas in the brain dedicated to leg control to make unconscious adjustments as they are on the treadmill.
A study funded by the government to be carried out in the fall will allow doctors to put more brain damage sufferers into longer sessions in order to find out if improvements made using the treadmill will lead to more permanent results.
