| Robotic Arm Helps Stroke Survivors Regain Mobility |
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An experimental robotic arm brace improved arm mobility in people who were partially paralyzed by strokes, researchers have found. The U.S. team tested the ability of the device to provide power to weakened muscles in six stroke survivors with severe weakness and reduced use of one arm. Strokes often leave people with severe weakness or paralysis on one side of the body. Rehabilitation programs help improve functioning and exercise can stimulate the injured brain's capacity to repair itself. Those with severe arm weakness often have difficulty performing exercises, but the robotic device may help. The portable device combines a lightweight elbow brace that slides onto the arm. A computerized sensor system on the front and back of the upper arm detects electrical impulses from the muscles and processes the signals. Users wear a motor in a backpack that provides the power needed to translate the signals into arm movements. In principle, such "wearable" robots could provide therapeutic exercise to help compensate for chronic weakness, the researchers said in the April issue of the American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. The robotics facilitate motion triggered by the patient's own muscle activity, similar to power steering in a car. Improving performance In feasibility tests, the six patients did 18 hours of exercising training with the device over six to nine weeks to learn how to flex and extend the elbow. Average scores on a standard test of arm movement increased by 23 per cent, and muscle stiffness scores also improved, the team found. No complications were reported. "Without the device, many of the individuals we studied were simply unable to complete the movement, and thus had no practical way to improve their performance through practice," said Dr. Joel Stein of Boston's Harvard Medical School, the study's principal investigator. Being able to complete movements allows users to improve performance with practice, Stein said. Stroke survivors who have some mobility remaining in an arm are the best candidates for the brace. The device is awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Source: CBS News Canada |
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