Space tech has a habit of finding its way to useful earth-bound uses. One example is the Secure Ambulation Mode, or SAM, a physical therapy device composed of technology developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and designed to help the badly injured walk again.

SAM is an advanced harness-equipped walker designed to assist patients with debilitating lower body injuries (like spinal cord injuries) or diseases (like multiple sclerosis) doing physical therapy, learning how to walk and strengthening leg bones and muscles. The core technology, created by the late James Kerley and adapted by him, Allen Crane and Wayne Eklund for use in a walker-like device, consists of short segments of flexible cable that connect to various hardware. This allows joint-like, multi-directional movement and gives shock absorption features as well - useful features for a physical therapy device like SAM.

SAM itself is manufactured by Enduro Medical Technologies of East Hartford, Conn., which licensed and further adapted the NASA tech, and added the torso-hugging harness to complete the system. The SAM is designed to support the weight of patients who cannot stand on their own, making it easier for them to begin walking and speeding the therapy/rehabilitation process. It's also a boon for hospitals, as teams of therapists will not be needed to support a quadriplegic patient.

One SAM customer is Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, courtesy of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine which donated the machine. There, SAM assists soldiers with traumatic spinal cord or brain injuries conduct physical therapy and get back on their feet.

Physicians at Kindred Hospital in North Carolina have found another category of patients who would benefit from SAM: bariatric patients, people who are remarkably overweight that they've become bedridden and their legs can no longer support their weight. One SAM at the hospital is in fact used by a patient who weighs over 600 pounds - a testament to the integrity of the machine and the tech inside of it.

Of course, space tech finding its way back home is nothing new to NASA, so much that they have a department specially dedicated to facilitating the transfer of NASA tech to the larger community. "It's very important to NASA to facilitate licensing of our technologies when possible for the benefit of the broader community," said Nona Minnifield Cheeks of the Goddard Space Flight Center's Office of Technology Transfer. "Our research and technology can and does often have useful applications beyond space-based exploration. We enjoy knowing that as a byproduct of our work, we directly help people right here on Earth to improve their quality of life."