Robotic Therapy Can Help Stroke Patients Recover Arm Function

posted on Apr 08 by Snow in the Disability News, Health, Healthcare, Technology, Traumatic Brain Injury category

According to studies by Japanese researchers that premiered at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2011, robotic therapy can help patients who have suffered a stroke recover function in their arms. The new robotic therapy, combined with traditional rehabilitation therapies, can help improve mobility in the limbs of patients following a stroke.

The new robot therapy uses a robot system that moves a patient’s limb. The arm or leg is attached to the robot, which then goes through a series of programmed movements. These movements simulate movements that will be performed in real life and help patients regain a range of movement in their limb. During this robotic repetitive movement therapy, the limb affected by the stroke is slowly stretched and muscles are worked without having to rely on a human therapist.

While this type of repetitive movement therapy is not new in the world of stroke rehabilitation, the robot therapy can fix many problems that can arise. Often patients cannot schedule regular rehabilitation therapies with a human therapist, or sometimes patients may perform repetitive movement therapy wrong and cause pain and injury. According to the study, this robotic therapy helps stroke patients restore range of movement in their arms more efficiently than traditional therapy.

This new robotic therapy was designed by researchers from the Department of Occupational Therapy in Kitasato University East Hospital in Kanagawa, Japan. The robotic therapy research team was headed by Kayoko Takahashi, Sc.D., O.T.R., who said that “combining robotic exercise with regular rehabilitation may be the key to successful intervention.”

Because many rehabilitation therapies focus on helping patients function with just one arm, “many post-stroke patients have given up hope of recovery of their affected arms.” Takahashi said. “Participating in such robotic exercise is therefore expected to give patients insights about their future ability and a more positive image regarding their affected arm, increasing their self-efficacy and motivation toward rehabilitation.”

Sources:

http://www.newsroom.heart.org/index.php?s=43&item=1254

http://www.ivanhoe.com/channels/p_channelstory.cfm?storyid=26362