Researchers in Hamilton have intensive-care patients pedalling in bed
TriCycle used to combat muscular atrophy associated with long-term bed rest
Researchers at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, CTVNews.ca reports, have discovered that a unique kind of physical therapy to help intensive-care patients: pedalling in bed.
The research project is called TriCycle.
After first being tested between October 2013 and August 2014, ICU beds in Hamilton-area hospitals were overhauled with devices not commonly seen in places where mobility isn’t possible. Intended to alleviate the muscular atrophy typical of long-term bed rest, “strange-looking bicycles,” in the words of CTVNews.ca, were outfitted onto hospital beds to allow patients to pedal while lying down.
The strengthening of hip flexors was a key therapeutic goal of the new devices, which were tested with the participation of 33 patients on mechanical respiration.
Of the test group, the average age was 65, reports say, all of whom pedalled for 30 minutes a day within three days of admission for respiratory failure. To a maximum of 28 days, horizontal cycling was prescribed as treatment while test subjects received care. Dr. Michelle Kho and her research team found that patients were able to cover 9 km on average during the course of their stay.
Further clinical trials will be ongoing, while the research has been published in a journal titled Plos One.
