LiteGait
Creating Better Conditions for Gait Rehabilitation

Patients enter rehabilitation to practice movements they cannot perform on their own. When they lack the strength or balance to walk correctly, they may compensate in ways that reinforce poor movement patterns.

LiteGait bridges the gap between what a patient cannot yet do and what therapy needs them to practice. Developed by Mobility Research, LiteGait provides adjustable body-weight support and postural control to accommodate each patient’s specific limitations while enabling many repetitions of well-formed movement and allowing clinicians to adjust support as needed. LiteGait supports patients with neurological, orthopedic, medical and developmental conditions, including stroke, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury and pediatric care.

LiteGait began with a therapeutic technique, not an established equipment category. The company grew out of late1980s research into supported gait training and its potential to help patients practice stepping and walking while appropriately supported. The technique initially drew little commercial interest. Instead of abandoning the research, the researchers established the company to bring the approach into everyday clinical practice.

Making that method useful required clinicians to understand how to position and support patients, making education integral to the company’s model. It provides pre- and post-sales training, onsite instruction, refresher courses, webinars and journal clubs, with both complimentary and fee-based options.

Beyond clinics, it reaches therapists earlier in their careers through online seminars, classes and academic programs for universities and colleges who teach PTs and PTAs. The company considers a well-trained user its best ambassador.

“We hope to leave a legacy that combines research-based methodology with the education needed to apply it across a broad range of rehabilitation populations,” says Amir Seif-Naraghi, vice president of research and development.

One Principle, Different Patients

In gait therapy, reducing weight alone does not necessarily address the movement limitation. LiteGait’s overhead support and postural correction allow clinicians to position and support patients while adjusting the amount and location of assistance. This reduces the energy required to stay upright and ambulate, preserving their limited stamina for more practice.

For example, after a stroke, when the early period of neuroplasticity is important for relearning movement, severe weakness can still prevent patients from even stepping. A cane or parallel bars may help them move, but can allow them to bypass the weaker side and practice compensation instead. LiteGait assists the weaker side just enough for the patient and therapist to practice well-formed steps, preferably on a slow-moving treadmill. Pediatric rehabilitation follows the same logic, allowing therapists and children to practice the developmental skills of standing and walking.

In one instance, a patient with a traumatic brain injury who was emerging from a coma further shaped LiteGait’s therapeutic environment. Upper-body support alone did not provide enough stability for him. The team adapted the system with four straps rather than two, allowing separate control of the right and left sides and the front and back of the trunk. The patient eventually took overground steps with significant assistance.

Extending the Therapeutic Approach

LiteGait’s expanding portfolio follows the same therapeutic principle, with each addition designed to make supported gait therapy more effective. GaitKeeper, its slow-moving treadmill, is designed specifically for supported gait training, while GaitSens lets therapists observe gait parameters in real time and use them for treatment and patient biofeedback. AutoStep, a gait-facilitation accessory, uses the movement of one leg to help assist the other at the appropriate point in the gait cycle.

Its home systems, long used with pediatric patients with cerebral palsy, are now being expanded to a wider range of rehabilitation patients, while rental options help reduce the cost barrier to home access. The company is also exploring augmented and virtual environments to bring obstacles, distractions and other real-world conditions into controlled therapy.

For more than 30 years of LiteGait use worldwide, Mobility Research has built a legacy of combining research-based methodology with clinical education and is recognized as the Top Supported Gait Therapy System 2026.