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."

Comments

A famous personality's contribution

[A beautiful mind]

The Hand-Wrist Assisting Robotic Device (HoWARD)

It has been named after John Howard, he has trouble grasping certain subjects aswell, like Kyoto or copyright legislation.

[FOOT ICON HERE]

Misread the title

[Karganeth]

I read the title as "Robotic Arm Fails in Grasping After Stroke".

inappropriate maybe...

[benzzene]

...but that headline made me giggle.

Seriously

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Perhaps parent looks like a grope for a funny, but it is not.

Sure, general independence is a big issue. However, even if stroke victims have help with many functions such as cooking, dressing, eating etc, being able to do certain things (eg. handle your own genitalia -- sexually or otherwise) at least gives you some sense of self.

Pretty cool

[LiquidCoooled]

That looks like a good use for tech.
On a related note, what kind of disease is this meant to cure?

Or is this the cause for the stroke in the first place?

Obligatory

[zaguar]

Cue the Masturbation jokes in 3...2...1...

Re:Obligatory

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Cue the Masturbation jokes in 3...2...1..."

Side effects include... blindness.

uh, great...

[cosmocain]

...with the help of these you can grasp your BigMac with extra bacon even after it nearly killed you.

That's interesting

[ronanbear]

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.

Re:That's interesting

[LoudMusic]

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 wouldn't think of it so much as a replacement for therapists as really a tool for therapists to do their jobs even better. Even more important than the mechanical restoration of physical abilities is the rebuilding of a person's self worth. A pretty strong effect of strokes is depression - people think there is nothing they can contribute any longer and they are purely a drain on their loved ones. Therapists are trained to repair the physical damage, but most importantly the emotional and psychological. If the stroke victim emotionally doesn't want to physically get better, these new technologies are just wasted on them.

Yes, I am married to an occupational therapist and daughter of a stroke survivor ... ;)

Mechs vs. Meatbot

[smchris]

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?

I for one...

[silentounce]

I, for one, welcome our stroking, grasping robotic over-ahhhhhhh...

/lights cigarette