STROKE ROBOTIC THERAPY

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Stroke robotic treatment is a type of rehabilitation that uses robotic equipment to help people who have had a stroke restore motor function and improve their overall mobility. It focuses towards the damaged limbs, with the goal of improving motor control, strength, and coordination.

There are two main classifications for upper-extremity robotics: end-effector and exoskeleton. End effector devices are often simpler, engaging just with the most distal components of the participant, whereas exoskeleton devices can align with one or more joints, allowing for direct measurement and modification of joint movement.

LOKOMAT

Lokomat is an example robotic therapy. It is a robot-assisted treadmill that supports a patient in an upright position while moving the legs through a normal walking pattern – even if a patient is unable to move his or her legs independently.

How it works ?

The patient is suspended in a harness above a treadmill, and an exoskeleton robotic frame linked to the outside of the legs by straps moves the legs in a natural walking pattern.

The velocity of walking and the body’s reaction to movement are controlled by a computer as the repetitive walking pattern helps the brain and spinal cord work together to re-route signals that were interrupted by injury or illness.

Sensors and other technology track the patient’s walking pattern, track changes in strength, range of motion, and endurance over time, and allow the patient to gradually increase physical effort while maintaining safety.

In patients with a spinal cord injury, the therapy induces reflexes that allow leg input to go up the spinal cord. Whilst In patients with brain injury and stroke, the involved side of the body responds to moving in the normal pattern of walking even if the patient does not have the strength to move his legs.

Juntendo Clinic is the first clinic in Japan to use this Lokomat therapy robot to treat gait abnormalities caused by stroke, spinal cord damage, and Parkinson’s disease.

The availability of such technology may be more prevalent in larger cities and well-established medical institutions. However with Japan being one of the few countries that offer the Lokomat Stroke robotic therapy to patients, this just sets the floor for the rest of the world to begin incorporating robotic therapy in hospitals with greater regularity.

Advantages

1)The Most Physiological Motion

The individually configurable patient interface ensures physiological movement of the lower extremities. It helps strengthen muscles and improve circulation using Augmented Performance Feedback (APF).

Also, the weight bearing nature of the exercise may help strengthen bones at risk for osteoporosis (the loss of calcium from bones that makes them fragile and easy to break) due to lack of use.

2)State-of-the-Art Gait Rehabilitation

Patients are increasingly more informed about what the most effective and efficient therapy is, and they use this information to decide where to go for their rehabilitation.

3)Optimal Patient Challenge

Patients must be challenged during rehabilitation. Therapists can assist patients in reaching their goals by tailoring training parameters to their abilities. Therefore, Patients are inspired to achieve their goals through a variety of game-like exercises especially for the pediatrics.

4)Increased Efficiency

The Lokomat allows therapists to focus on the patient and the actual therapy. It enhances staff efficiency and safety, leading to higher training intensity, more treatments per therapist, and consistent, superior patient care.

In my opinion, such increased therapy makes such a tremendous difference, especially for stroke victims. With the traditional therapy patients would recover to a considerable extent , but would still have certain effects for the rest of their lives that may have been impossible to entirely heal from. As a result, robotic decreases, if not fully eliminates, the odds of a patient developing long-term consequences in the future.