Richard Mooney's left ankle hurt Thursday, and he couldn't have been happier about it.

"It was exhilarating," Mr. Mooney said of seeing himself out of his electric wheelchair and walking, thanks to a new program at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center. The program uses equipment called Lokomat Pro, where a computer drives robotic limbs attached to the patient's legs to help move them in a walking gait on a treadmill while the patient is supported in a harness.

It is intended for patients such as Mr. Mooney, a high-functioning quadriplegic who has sensation in the legs and some muscle tone. But part of his problem with regaining function is in the brain, said VA physical therapist Alison Chestang.

"There is a disconnect between the brain and the spinal cord in spinal cord injury patients," she said. Doing a task-specific motion such as walking over and over again can take advantage of neuroplasticity in the brain and help reform those connections, Dr. Chestang said.

In a case study from South Korea in 2008, researchers using functional MRI imaging were able to show that using the robotic gait training with the machine in a stroke patient not only improved movement, but activity in the sensorimotor cortex was improved and nearby brain regions were recruited to help with movement.

And there is the benefit just from walking for 25 minutes, as Mr. Mooney did Thursday.

"Exercise is exercise," Dr. Chestang said. "The same benefits we get from exercise, like decreasing pain because it releases endorphins, they get from this as well."

It can also increase muscle and endurance, VA physical therapist Leah Hawkins said. The benefit of this particular robot is that each step can be gauged, and angles can be adjusted for each step to improve the gait and tailor it for each patient.

"We can adjust everything," Dr. Chestang said. The old method would have had the patient suspended over the treadmill but with a therapist on each side individually moving the legs to try and achieve the proper gait.

"With two different people, it's nearly impossible to have exactly the same movement on each leg every single time," Dr. Chestang said. "It would unfortunately limit the time they could spend walking. This greatly increases the amount of time they could spend walking."

The patient can also see on a screen in front of them how much effort they are putting into each step from the knees and hips, which helps encourage them, Dr. Chestang said.

There is a greater psychological benefit for Mr. Mooney, who hasn't walked since 2002, when damage from a previous car accident lead to a sudden "bolt of lightning" pain in his neck that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Seeing himself in the long mirror that is in front of the walker, with his legs moving again, was "euphoria," he said. "It takes you aback for a few seconds. You're just up there and you kind of lose yourself."

Though Mr. Mooney did well to get to 25 minutes, the ultimate goal is 45 minutes at this point, Dr. Chestang said.

But Mr. Mooney has loftier goals than that.

"I'm hoping that some day I'll be able to get up and use a walker," he said.