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Robotic Arm Aids in Grasping After Stroke
Roland Piquepaille writes "In the U.S., stroke is a major cause of long-term disability which affects 700,000 people annually. Most of them are over 65 years old and some have difficulties grasping objects after their stroke. This is why Californian researchers have developed a robotic therapy which helps restore hand use after stroke. The Hand-Wrist Assisting Robotic Device (HoWARD) has successfully been tested on seven women and six men who had suffered a stroke at least three months before the study. These results, while encouraging, need to be balanced. There must be enough residual motor power in the arm and hand of stroke patients to initiate some movement for this robotic therapy to work."
I was just a presentation of related research on Friday in Dublin, Ireland.
Quite interesting stuff. It should be a lot cheaper than existing methods where you have highly trained staff spending large amounts of time doing this work. Instead, you get a robot to do it for far less (and cut out trips to the hospital so patients can convalesce at home or in a nursing home).
They also allow precise measurement of the progress you're making. How much force, how accurate your motion, how steady your speed - everything can be recorded and optimised for even better therapies.
I was sitting there listening to everything being explained and thinking about how to do it with a Wiimote but these particular robots aren't passive. They actively move your arm at first because stroke victims don't have the strength. Maybe for milder strokes though.
the more they over-think the plumbing the easier it is to stop up the pipe
All well and good but I would rather we caught the aneurysm first -- and I feel like we are making great progress. I personally have an aunt, uncle and another significant old guy who are ambling around after intervention before they blew. The 89-year-old TWICE and I have to muse on how amazing that is every time I visit him. Maybe the luck of a competent medical center and a knack for complaining at just the right time?