This proprietary technology has been developed through a Cooperative Research and Development Afreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, USA).

The SpryStep® Agilik™ KAFO is intended for patients with lower extremity weakness resulting in gait pathology such as, but not limited to crouch gait from a diagnosis of cerebral pals y, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, incomplete spinal cord
injury or stroke hemiparesis. It is intended for patients aged 5 years and above, who can understand and follow simple directions based on a parental report and physician observations during recent history and physical examination, and able
to walk at least 3m (10 feet) without stopping with or without a walking aid. It is the responsibility of the therapist/clinician to determine if the patient is physically and cognitively able to use and understand the product.

As it is a smart system, there is a real-time gait phase detection which drives the assistance. Thuasne® trains a member of the patient's clinical team (normally either their orthotist or physical therapist) to tune the SpryStep® Agilik™ KAFO using this app. 

A test-unit is available for patient assessments and demonstrations. Super lightweight, the Test Drive comes with multiple sizes of thigh cuffs and footplates to fit a range of 127-185cm (4'2'' to 6'1'') tall (arrangements can be made for shorter or taller ranges). 

With test drive and definitive SpryStep® Agilik™ KAFO it can be seen the following potential patient improvements:
- on gait biomechanics: increased step length¹, improved knee extension during stance and swing gait phases², improved knee flexion during swing phase.
- on ambulation abilities: increased walking distance and speed^1-6, improved functional mobility, reduced energy costs⁵, aid with balance and coordination⁶, may reduce the need for wheelcair use 
- on long-term patient implications: may reduce fatigue⁶ and joint deterioration⁷, may reduce progression of muscle contractures⁸, may increase patient time in physical therapy. 

Contact a Thuasne - SpryStep® Agilik™ KAFO specialist
Order form available here

1. Hachisuka, K. et al. 2007 ‘Oxygen consumption, oxygen cost and physiological cost index in polio survivors: A comparison of walking without orthosis, with an ordinary or a carbon fibre reinforced plastic knee ankle-foot orthosis’, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 39(8), pp. 646 650. doi : 10.2340/16501977 0105..
2. Zachary F. Lerner et al. ,A lower-extremity exoskeleton improves knee extension in children with crouch gait from cerebral palsy.Sci. Transl. Med.9,eaam9145(2017).DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.aam9145.
3. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, vol. 31, pp. 3265-3274, 2023, doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2023.3303777..
4. Steinfeldt F, Seifert W, Gunther KP. ‘Modern carbon Fibre orthoses in the management of polio patients a critical evaluation of the functional aspects.’ Z Orthop Ihre Grenzgeb 2003; 141:357 361.
5. Brehm, M. A. et al. 2007 ‘Effect of carbon composite knee ankle-foot orthoses on walking efÏciency and gait in former polio patients’, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 39(8), pp. 651 657.
6. Arazpour M, Moradi A, Samadian M, et al. The influence of a powered knee–ankle–foot orthosis on walking in poliomyelitis subjects: A pilot study. Prosthetics and Orthotics International. 2015;40(3):377-383. doi:10.1177/0309364615592703.
7. Steele, K. M., DeMers, M. S., Schwartz, M. H., & Delp, S. L. (2012). Compressive tibiofemoral force during crouch gait. Gait & posture, 35(4), 556-560.
8. Miccinilli, S.; Santacaterina, F.; Della Rocca, R.; Sterzi, S.; Bressi, F.; Bravi, M. Efficacy of Lower Limb Orthoses in the Rehabilitation of Children Affected by Cerebral Palsy: A Systematic Review. Children 2024, 11, 212. https://doi.org/10.3390/children11020212.