Gorbel Inc. is a global leader in developing overhead material handling, lifting and safety systems for a range of industries. In 2012 Brian Reh, Gorbel’s President and CEO, was presented with an interesting idea. A Gorbel employee had watched as her daughter endured painful gait and balance rehabilitation following a vehicular accident. She observed multiple therapists and assistants guard her daughter, sometimes 4:1, as she learned to walk again. Gorbel’s G-Force® device uses a proprietary “float mode” to allow heavy materials to be moved with precision and little effort by an operator. The employee proposed to Brian that the same product concept could protect patients in rehabilitation.

So the Journey Began

Gorbel’s G-Force® device lifts and moves heavy materials so that they can be moved with precision and little effort by an operator. Gorbel has been designing and building rail systems for the industrial space since 1977. The unknown was the world of physical rehabilitation.

We Called in the Experts

Over the course of two years, a hundred therapists from the rehabilitation field along with patients undergoing gait training were interviewed.
We asked about their challenges and posed “what if” questions. They opened their world and gave us invaluable feedback on topics ranging from body-weight assist percentages to harness design and intervention protocols. We took that knowledge and designed an overhead, dynamic body-weight support system that enables therapists to perform one-on-one treatment using proven fall arrest technology to avert injury, while collecting meaningful patient performance outcomes through user-friendly software. The SafeGait 360˚ Balance and Mobility Trainer: designed to improve people’s lives.