Music-Assisted Therapy

Music-based therapy is well researched for its powerful effects in treatment of movement disorders. With the rate of Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis diagnoses on the rise, so is the need for better treatment options. We equipped the Biodex Gait Trainer 3 with neurologic music compositions written and performed by music therapists to help more patients find their stride using the power of music.

This revolutionary music integration provides an effective evidence-based tool for physical therapists and neurologists to enhance treatments and drive faster outcomes.

Merge Music-Assisted Therapy with Technology

With our exclusive instrumented deck, realtime biofeedback and sophisticated analytics, the Gait Trainer 3 is the ideal platform for integrating music-assisted therapy. Using the Gait Trainer’s intuitive interface, belt speed can easily be adjusted to match the patient’s steps per minute (spm). Music tempo in beats per minute (bpm) can be managed to influence gait components. Biofeedback quantifiably displays step length, step speed (spm) and step symmetry to encourage patient progress.

While the repetition of gait training encourages lasting effects through neuroplasticity, neurologic music is composed to facilitate correct movement. Neurologic compositions are not only continuous, but can also be adjusted to a range of bpm without degrading music quality – even accommodating lower bpm for late stages of Parkinson’s.

Listening to music you love releases dopamine
Once correct kinematics of gait are re-established using neurologic music, patients can switch to popular music selections. Biodex has curated hundreds of songs for streaming, organized by genre and bpm.

Harness the Power of Music for Movement Disorders

Music-Assisted Therapy can be used in rehabilitation and medical settings to improve functional movement, treating such conditions as:

• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical Application

Biodex provides a manual, rehabilitative performance plan, and other clinical application tools to help you understand which compositions are best suited to various clinical categories, for example:

The Music-Assisted Therapy Package offered for the Biodex Gait Trainer 3 is accessed via USB flash drive that activates the music player software. A library of neurologic music compositions, as well as various metronome beats and tones are provided. The package also lets you access our popular music playlists right from the system, and even accommodates custom recordings.

How Music-Enhanced Therapy Impacts Rehabilitation

Those affected by debilitating neuropathologies respond favorably to Rhythmic Auditory Cueing (RAC) and musical elements carefully chosen to enhance functional movement. Music is shown to promote neuroplasticity, reorganizing neural pathways to help patients regain motor function that had been lost to brain injury or disease.

Fitting the music to the patient synchronizes gait for entertainment. Walking can be aligned with rhythmic auditory cueing to improve temporal (step speed), special gait (step length) and left/right stride deviations (step symmetry). The qualitative component of what is done musically is quantified and documented by the system’s computer. The pretest, comparison to normative data, and post test results are presented objectively.

Click here for more information about the Gait Trainer 3.

The Music-Assisted Therapy Package contains a library of recordings produced at historic and internationally renowned studios, known for high commitment to sound integrity and technological excellence. Locations include Premier Studios, New York City, NY, where industry artists such as Madonna have recorded, and Bismeaux Studio, Austin, TX, which has seen the likes of Ray Benson and Asleep at the Wheel, Willie Nelson, George Strait and many others.

Silvery Moon Medley© is a music therapy arrangement that has a clear, complementary playback structure for walking patterns. Available in tempo ranges from 90-140 bpm. Original arrangement from The Center for Music Therapy, Inc.

Street Walking© is an original music therapy-informed composition provided at two different tempos between 60- and 140 bpm, each with a different arrangement, and geared toward specific movement needs. The composition provides a clear, complementary playback structure for walking patterns that are well below normal gait ranges. Composed by The Center for Music Therapy, Inc.

Animals Everywhere© is an original music therapy-informed composition provided at five different tempos between 45- and 130 bpm, each with a different arrangement and geared toward initiation and continuation of gait at extremely impaired levels of spm or bpm. Composed by The Center for Music Therapy, Inc.

These songs are in 4/4 time signature, with distinct, consistent down beat, without the confusion of non-complementary instrumentation for gait training. Street Walking© and Animals Everywhere© were recorded in DXD format as is used in SACD, (Super Audio CD) for Full Analog Bandwidth.

Music the Patient Likes

Specialty playlists for streaming, curated by genre and BPM
Studies show listening to music you love releases more dopamine.

Once correct kinematics of gait are re-established using neurologic music, patients can switch to popular music selections. Biodex has curated hundreds of songs for streaming, organized by genre and bpm.

To order, call 1-800-224-6339