An assistive robot, developed by an engineering graduate student at Florida Atlantic University, potentially offers better and more comprehensive physical therapy and rehabilitation. By developing a robot to perform the functions that would normally be undertaken by a human caregiver, Melissa Morris and Dr. Oren Masory, of FAU hope to drive down human resources costs so that therapy can be undertaken for a longer period of time, and also gather and record less subjective data about a patient’s progress via mathematical calculations of the patient’s range and strength of movement.

Newswise — Florida Atlantic University has filed a provisional patent for a unique robotic device to assist with the physical rehabilitation process of patients suffering from neurological damages to their upper extremities such as those due to stroke or Parkinson’s disease. Inventors, Dr. Oren Masory, chair and professor of mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, and Melissa Morris, FAU engineering graduate student, designed and built the device to aid physical therapists and their patients to retrain injured muscles.

The invention is composed of moving parts, including motors, cables and spools, enclosed within an acrylic case with a handle [joystick] that is indirectly connected to the system through magnetic attraction. This device is the first-known cable driven robot to utilize a barrier between the operator and the moving mechanisms of the system. The system does not contain any rigid parts that could suddenly harm or injure the user, and the device can be used in a physical therapy office or at home without supervision. In addition, the system has a safety button embedded in the handle and if released during operation, a signal is sent to the controller that the patient has lost contact with the handle and the system immediately shuts down.

The device is designed to operate in various modes which guide the patient through a series of routine exercises. One mode enables the patient to begin his/her training by following a preprogrammed path which corresponds to “repetitions” done in traditional physical therapy. Another mode assists the patient as he/she attempts to follow the path, and the robot corrects them if they move outside of the path in much the same way a therapist would do by providing gentle resistance. It also offers varying resistance at all points within the platform to simulate contact with objects and increase muscle strength. An additional mode offers a significant advantage over traditional physical therapy by providing absolutely no resistance to the patient, allowing movement anywhere within the platform for the purpose of diagnostic measurements. Furthermore, this device allows the physical therapist to make changes or modify the program to create new paths or change the level of resistance. The device also assists physical therapists by taking over the tedious work of repeated training.

With a smashing success, the American Association for Homecare’s rehab and assistive technology council (RATC) claimed a victory this week when three senators introduced the Medicare Access to Complex Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology Act of 2008. Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), Olympia Snowe (R-Me), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich) introduced the bill, dubbed S 2931, that would exempt complex rehabilitation from Medicare competitive bidding.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule that will improve the accuracy of payment for services furnished to people with Medicare who need the intensive rehabilitation services provided by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs). These include patients who are recovering from serious illnesses or injuries, such as stroke, spinal cord injuries, severe burns, amputations and a number of other conditions. There are currently more than 1,200 facilities that are paid as IRFs.

In-Home Telerehabilitation for Quadriplegic Hand Function (SCI-IHT)

This study is currently recruiting participants.

Verified by University of Alberta, April 2008

Sponsors and Collaborators:
University of Alberta
International Spinal Research Trust
Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research

Information provided by:
University of Alberta

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00656149

Purpose

1. To evaluate improvements in hand function in stable, cervical spinal cord injured (SCI) subjects treated with functional electrical stimulation (FES)-assisted exercise;
2. To compare the information obtained from existing qualitative and quantitative hand function tests with newly developed tests of sensorimotor performance.

Hypotheses:

1. the performance of tasks representative of activities of daily living (ADL) will improve with daily tele-supervised exercise of the affected hand.
2. The improvements will be greater in one exercise protocol than the other, the protocols being a) FES-assisted exercise on a workstation, b) cyclical FES, weight training and precision tasks.
3. Scores derived from quantitative data obtained from sensors on the workstation will correlate with the qualitative scores of the primary outcome measure, the ARAT hand function test.

Details and application information here.

The Chicago Tribune explores the benefits of traveling to India for radical or expensive surgery.

NEW DELHI — When James Payne found out he needed a liver transplant, he first tried to arrange the surgery at a top local hospital in South Florida. Doctors there told him that they couldn’t schedule the procedure for a few months and that it would cost $450,000, a fortune for the uninsured former investment banker.

So the 55-year-old and his wife, who planned to donate half her own liver to her husband, bought plane tickets to India instead. There, at one of New Delhi’s premier hospitals, a transplant specialist did the surgery for $58,000—a price tag that included their 10-week hospital stay.

While the study was specifically carried out with stroke survivors, once can presume that it could also be beneficial to help restore full mobility and proper gait to accident victims, surgical recovery patients, and victims of disease.

Newswise — For the more than 700,000 people who experience a stroke each year, many never regain the ability to walk like they did prior to their stroke. But physical therapists, using a specialized treadmill, have discovered a new way to help stroke patients walk again—correctly.

The results of their study, conducted at Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation (BIR), appear in the April 2008 issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.