Multiple sclerosis can be a devastating diagnosis, robbing patients of their ability to walk, among other things, but a new device is helping patients get back on their feet. It's called the Walk Aide.

Photos of Vicki Olt, 57, show her hiking, biking, and running along the beach -- activities that virtually came to a halt several years ago.

“My left side became somewhat paralyzed. That's the only way I can describe it,” said Olt.

Olt was diagnosed with MS in 1987, but it wasn't until about seven years ago that her symptoms worsened.

“I remember walking in the door just kind of thinking that's not my mom. She had changed so dramatically in about four months,” said Jessica Epstein, Olt’s daughter.

Olt now suffers from a condition called "foot drop," making it difficult to walk.

“You just can't lift your foot. Your first leg can take the step, but the second leg to follow it can't do it,” said Olt.

A couple of weeks ago, she starting using the Walk Aide device, worn just below the knee.

“Everything is self-contained in this one device. Once it's been programmed, it functions on a tilt sensor, so that the tilt of the lower limb and space tells the device when to turn on and off at the appropriate time,” said Denise Gouge, a rehab specialist with Innovative Neurotronics, the company that manufactures the Walk Aide.

“There's (sic) little electrodes that sit inside this cuff that send signals to the nerve to lift the foot, and once that happens, it sends a signal back up to the brain and it kind of recreates that circuit so that the brain will, in essence, start to rewire,” said Gouge.

“It was amazing because you could feel your toe come up,” said Olt. With the help of her Walk Aide, Olt can now walk again.

The Walk Aide is designed for patients who suffer from "foot drop" due to conditions such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, cerebral palsy or a traumatic brain injury.

It costs about $4,500.