Prof. Isabella Schwartz, director of the rehabilitation department at the hospital, explained that the device, the only and first of its kind in Jerusalem, which was imported from the USA, allows the staff incredible therapeutic options. He steps slightly and is slightly carried in the air by air that flows from below, thus allowing him to step on his foot in an incomplete, measured and supervised manner – almost immediately after surgery. This is how Dvir and his colleagues in the department who were injured in their legs benefited from a much faster rehabilitation progress than what we have known so far.”
She further added that the device protects the patient from all sides and leads his steps on a walking path: “Over time, and at the pace of each person’s personal progress, we increase the weight that we allow him to step on. This gradualness allows for a more efficient and correct rehabilitation.”
As mentioned, the device developed at NASA was purchased at Hadassah Mount Scopus with a donation from Hadassah International Israel. “This technology definitely proves itself in the rehabilitation of various types of injuries, which lead to a limitation or prevention of walking, such as muscle weakness or balance problems. The case of Dvir, who was operated on his leg due to the injury of the pedicle, is a classic case of using the device to return to walking in a normal way Gradual and accompanied by the professional team in physical therapy who knows how to work according to his progress, until he reaches full walking on his leg,” she noted.
“This treatment, at the highest technological level, helps the injured whose ability to walk has been impaired, when various sports injuries can also be rehabilitated with its help, and the players of the Real Madrid soccer team, as well as top-class tennis players, use it.”
During the treatment on the device, Dvir appeared to be “walking”, just like before the severe leg injury. “When I’m asked in physical therapy which device I prefer to train on, I choose anti-gravity. I train on the device and feel as if I’m walking like before, before the injury. Only when I get off it do I remember that, actually, I’m not there yet – but fully on my way to walking with both feet independently. There is no other option for me,” he said excitedly.
Prof. Schwartz concluded: “Dvir demonstrates an admirable determination in the struggle to get back on his feet,” concludes Prof. Schwartz. “This determination and the desire to move forward is an inspiration to everyone around him.”