Canadian Firm Opens Clinics to Train People Using Its Keeogo Walking Assistance Device

B-Temia announced the launch of its “b-Klinic Mobility” business unit, offering clinical services, information, training, and ongoing support to patients and healthcare professionals who use the company’s Keeogo walking assistive device.

Keeogo is B-Temia’s first product in the class of dermoskeletons, designed to assist persons with mobility-related challenges that limit their ability to participate in daily activities, such as walking, climbing or descending stairs, sitting down, or standing up.

The device is for use in a variety of degenerative conditions that limit mobility, including multiple sclerosis, knee/hip osteoarthritis, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and spinal cord injury.

Commercially available for purchase or rental in Canada, Keeogo is under investigation in a multicenter clinical trial (NCT02904382) aimed at obtaining the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance needed to enter the U.S. market.

Keeogo utilizes sensors at the knee and hip joints to read a person’s body position and desired movement, and to provide the needed assistance to help complete that action. Keeogo does not initiate movement, but waits for the wearer’s lead and first indication, then assists in executing it — like pushing up when the wearer begins to stand up, or slowly supporting a person who is starting to sit down. For more information on how Keeogo works click here.

B-Temia, a Quebec-based company, opened its first b-Klinic Mobility clinic in Quebec City, and additional ones are scheduled to open in Montreal and Toronto. Staffed by certified kinesiologists and applied engineers, the clinics will offer a range of services designed to train and support Keeogo users and healthcare workers in using the device to help them take full advantage of its features.

“Keeogo is an advanced motorized walking assistance device with flexible features that allow, with the same apparatus, many configurations to adapt the device to most medical indications involving mobility impairment. In order to strengthen our presence in the medical community and foster adoption of the device … we are proud to launch our b-Klinic Mobility,” said Stéphane Bédard, Founder and CEO of B-Temia, in a press release.

Clinic kinesiologists will meet with patients to evaluate if Keeogo is of benefit, assess their walking gait, and explain how Keeogo might help them regain personal autonomy.

Training sessions are provided for home users, covering issues like how to put the device on, how to use it best, and how to care for it.

The b-Klinic Mobility service will also offer clinicians education and information about Keeogo and related topics, in-service presentations, and training sessions on identifying patients who could benefit from Keeogo, and configuring the device’s support software to optimally match a patient’s gait and muscular strength.

Keeogo’s adjustable motorized power complements its wearers’ own muscle strength to manage body movements naturally and more effectively, while offering stability and security, the company reports.

Keeogo can be used for rehabilitation or as daily walking assistance device. For more information, visit keeogo.com and b-temia.com/home-medical-equipment.

Sources:
B-TEMIA. Inc.
b-Klinic Mobility