Honda donated $1 million to establish the Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Ohio, to enhance mobility among pediatric patients with diseases including cerebral palsy (CP).
The center will provide comprehensive gait and spine motion analyses, sports performance programs, and injury prevention services. Another goal is to advance prosthetic and wheelchair development.
The Honda Center will look for new ways to manage patients with CP, spinal cord injury, spina bifida, and any other condition that limits mobility.
“At Honda, we consider ourselves a mobility company – and we want our products and our philanthropy to focus on the joy and freedom people have when they have mobility,” Tom Shoupe, senior vice president of Honda of America, said in a press release. “Whether motorcycles, automobiles, marine engines, aircraft, or assistive robotics, we have a long tradition of providing mobility products and so it was a natural fit to work with Nationwide Children’s on a center that would work to expand physical mobility for patients.”
Patients at the new center will be treated with state-of-the-art technology, such as advanced video recording techniques, electromyography (the recording of electrical activity in muscle tissue), and 3D motion analysis to better evaluate patient movement limitations and to find potential solutions.
Another objective of the center is to provide a research platform that can host additional collaborative opportunities with pediatric sports medicine and experts in injury prevention and surgical rehabilitation.
“This center will provide the opportunity to deliver life-changing clinical care to those patients limited in their ability to walk or run, as well as maximizing the performance and mobility for athletes of all ages,” said Kevin E. Klingele, MD, chief of orthopedic surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“The researchers and clinicians who will be involved with the center will continue to strengthen an already collaborative spirit at Nationwide Children’s, bringing together numerous clinical departments to provide the best outcomes for our patients and families, and for this we sincerely thank Honda,” Klingele added.
Honda has partnered with Nationwide Children’s Hospital for over three decades. Honda recently helped build Determination Way, a custom-designed simulated community that provides a real-world environment where rehab patients learn how to manage daily activities.
“I want to thank Honda for this generous gift that will help Nationwide Children’s Hospital launch the Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement,” said Jim Digan, president of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation. “Honda’s support makes possible unique services and opportunities that will set the standard for medicine across the country.”
To celebrate the establishment of the new Honda Center for Gait Analysis and Mobility Enhancement, the automaker surprised hospital patients and staff with a guest visit by ASIMO (Advanced Step Innovative Mobility), “the world’s most advanced humanoid robot.” ASIMO reflects the study of human motion and anatomy.