Stresst'er Ergometer

Hi All
Can anyone tell me whether you can still purchase a stresst'er ergometer and if so where from.
I think it was sturert medical systems originally but i can't find them on the web or find any other means of contact.
I have to replace my old treadmill with something alot smaller ( space within the lab is now at a premium ) and with something that most patients can possibly use.
Does anyone out there have experience of the stresst'er? or does anyone use anything else that would be suitable for vascular exercise testing?

Karen back from sunny Cypress and loving the good ole british weather!

Hiya Karen

We tend not to use our treadmill much anymore, as it never seems to allow natural walking. Esp our 'oldies' that come for excersize test appointments - they really can struggle to cope with walking much on a treadmill.
We never had a stress'ter here to use.
Hence I now tend to do the very test that brings them to us in the first place: 'walking'
They struggle with claudication from walking, so i walk them, anywhere safe, usually just outside our scan room along the corridoor. Not very glam, but close to help if needed, and close to the test room.
I walk at their pace and time how long they go before they have to stop, or up to 3 mins. I time it so we stop back at the couch and repeat ABPI's etc immediately.
The only problem is that this isn't rigidly standardised, but our consultants are very happy with this as they don't stricktly rely on fixed numbers, but more the overall picture.

Another idea to use a standard piece of equipment. As you are struggling to get hold of something i put my thinking cap on and tried to think out of the box, so to speak. I thought of people in the gym etc (not that i go there) to see what else there might be.
A couple of ideas: 1) a step machine, or 2) more low tech - a 'step' like in step-aerobics, and easy to use.
However, none would be validated for results but would be 'interesting' to test.

I often wondred about how 'good' the old stress'ter were in the same way as treadmills for not showing the real way in which someone walks and how thier true caludication develops.

Anyhow - enough rambling, sorry