A scientist whose wife has multiple sclerosis has developed a walking aid that could transform the lives of thousands of people with multiple sclerosis Ken Armitage from Honiton came up with the idea during a walk on Dartmoor with his wife Anne, when they were trying to reach a pub in time for a cream tea. The device consists of a shoulder harness and an elasticated cord connected to the wearer's shoe. It's particularly helpful for people whose muscles won't allow them to lift their feet during that part of the walking cycle.
 | | The harness clips to the wearers shoe |
Mr Armitage claims someone wearing the MuSmate can double their walking speed. His wife believes the device has significantly increased the amount she can walk as well as restoring her confidence. "Without it I walk very slowly and it’s quite painful but when I have it on I am like a puppet on a string and I can move and I can lift my foot. "If my husband hadn't come along with this idea I would be in a wheelchair." Mr Armitage says that the success of his product lies in its ability to focus on the strongest muscles of the person wearing it. "In its simplest terms it's an apparatus to transform power from where the body has the most strength to where it has a deficit," he explained. "The deficit is in the small muscles but they are important. By transferring power it enables people to walk four times as far and probably twice as fast." The South West MS Centre has endorsed the MuSmate and it is a regular feature in the centre's exercise classes. Ken has also received international interest in his invention and wants to see it made available on the NHS. Mr Armitage is a geophysicist and spends his time inventing things, though not usually disability-related products. The original device was improvised using his rucksack and a bungee strap. "Our need was to get to a pub that was serving the best cream teas on Dartmoor," said Anne.
 | | Anne's confidence has improved |
"My husband had this wonderful idea - he took off his rucksack, put a bungee on my foot and I covered the last two kilometres and got there in time for tea." The Armitages - together with a partner, Andrew Wynd - have formed a company to market the MuSmate to the public. They are hoping it will help people with MS, cerebral palsy, those recovering from strokes and adrenoleukodystrophy, a condition similar to MS. "My wife's walking range was down to about 50 or 60 metres," explained Ken. "Aerobic fitness is really important. Just because one muscle group doesn't work, that's not to say the others can't do a lot more. "We found a way of transferring energy from the strong muscles in the thigh and back to the ones that weren't working." The next stage in the product's development was to have it tested by a larger group of people. The South-West MS Society helped by coming up with around 20 volunteers. The volunteers also reported - though this was not measured scientifically - that the distance that they were able to walk increased by up to 600 per cent. Wearers reported that walking without the MuSmate had also improved. Having gone through the testing process and having been approved as a medical aid, the MuSmate is now on sale to the public. The MuSmate can be used on one or both legs and costs around £75 for a single harness and £125 for a double version. The company estimates that there are two million people in Europe and North America who could make use of the invention. | 
