A PIONEERING treadmill using technology developed by NASA is helping patients at Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

The hospital is one of less than 10 NHS hospitals in the UK to purchase the anti-gravity treadmill, which was funded by the Bournemouth Charity Hospital.

The machine, which cost £36,000, is helpng patients with a variety of conditions and injuries such as arthritis, joint pain or back pain. The patient is placed into the machine and zipped up into a sealed bag filled with air.

James Creasey, lower limb team leader at RBH, said the patient’s body weight is then reduced by up to 80 per cent, enabling them to exercise.

Mr Creasey said the hospital trialled the machine for two years and purchased one of its own last month.

“We were the first hospital in the country to have one.

“We’ve seen amazing results. One woman who was on crutches for 18 months is now running,” he said.

“We’re very lucky. If it wasn’t for the charity we wouldn’t have been able to buy it.”

Ellie Cowley, communica-tions officer at RBH, was diagnosed with a knee injury last year, and said: “It was a very strange feeling when I first used it but it has definitely made a big difference for me.”