Robotics lab helps stroke patients with recovery

Robotics engineers at Rice University are teaming with doctors from Memorial Hermann|TIRR to develop a PC-based system for physical rehabilitation.

"It can take months of physical therapy for stroke patients to regain the use of their limbs," said system architect Marcia O'Malley, director of Rice's Mechatronics and Haptic Interfaces Laboratory (MAHI). "We hope to refine our system to allow patients to recover faster and to allow therapists to more precisely monitor patients' recovery."

O'Malley and Memorial Hermann|TIRR doctors this fall began a two-year study of a prototype rehabilitation system developed at MAHI that uses a joystick to help patients with eye-to-hand coordination. The study involved 16 patients. In one exercise, the patients use the joystick to move an object from one part of the computer screen to another. Like all the systems in O'Malley's lab, the rehab program uses force-feedback technology called "haptics" that allow people to "feel" their environment while they are in virtual reality.

The term "haptic" refers to the perception of touch, and in the prototype rehab system, the joystick is outfitted with motors that push the stick to resist moves in the wrong direction. As a result, the patient's hands are guided along the right path. By repeating the exercise over and over, patients can gradually learn to control the objects on the screen in a smooth, precise way.

"We're interested in measuring how smooth the movements are, compared to what might be optimal," said O'Malley, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science. "The computer can precisely measure how a patient responds to every single exercise. This lets the doctors and physical therapists know exactly what their patient most needs to work on. This precise, measurable feedback provides a great advantage over the subjective evaluations currently in use."

O'Malley said researchers have been using computer-controlled robots for physical rehabilitation since the early 1990s, but so far the technology has been too expensive to use on a large scale. She thinks this will change within the next few years.

O'Malley said patients' enthusiasm for the technology is one reason it's likely to catch on.

"The patients who get a chance to try this tend to get very excited," said O'Malley, who has previously worked with doctors and patients from the Department of Veterans Affairs. "I've been inspired to see how hard patients are willing to work to regain their mobility, and our technology really plays to that strength. The machine never gets tired. It allows them to work as long and as hard as they want."

Source: Rice University

Related stories:

New Device Shines Light on Disease-Causing Molecules
If a doctor could identify a single molecule indicating the presence of a disease before the disease has a chance to harm the patient, the practice of medicine and the health of patients would be greatly improved. That’s the potential of a new device being developed by a University of Missouri engineer that is designed to aid in the diagnosis of disease. This technique, which is based on light detection, is sensitive enough to potentially identify a single disease molecule.
Stanford researchers find way to predict IVF success
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a method that can predict with 70 percent accuracy whether a woman undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment will become pregnant. This information may someday help the tens of thousands of couples who want to undergo IVF each year, and their doctors, decide on their course of action.
Taking action against hospital acquired infection
Patients enter hospitals every day for a variety of reasons but usually without the thought of developing a new health problem. Yet every year thousands of hospitalized Americans acquire infections during hospital stays, causing risk of complications, prolonged stays and an increased burden on the health-care system.
Intimate examinations should not be performed without consent
Editorial: Informed consent and intimate examinations
Intimate examinations, performed by medical students on anaesthetised patients, are often carried out without adequate consent from patients, but this violates their basic human rights and should not be allowed, claims an editorial in the July issue of Student BMJ.
Network designed to help health care professionals
European researchers have developed a computer system designed to give health care professionals access to a broader range of medical information.
Wavelets crunch through doctors' day long struggle to diagnose brain tumors
Today if doctors devote a full day to analysis and expert thought, they may be able to provide just half a dozen patients with a diagnosis of the precise type of brain tumour they face. Now researchers at the University of Warwick have devised an automated technique that can give a preliminary analysis of the precise brain tumour type within seconds.
Precision blood pressure measurement to improve heart health
A University of Queensland researcher is trialling new, cutting-edge technology for measuring blood pressure and the health of the heart. The study, led by Dr James Sharman from the School of Medicine, aims to determine the effectiveness of measuring central blood pressure. This will help guide treatment management decisions of patients with high blood pressure (hypertension), a condition that affects nearly 30 per cent of the Australian population.
Managing symptoms by mobile phone may revolutionize cancer care for young people
Researchers are harnessing the powers of digital communications technology to help young cancer patients at home manage the side-effects caused by chemotherapy.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news