The University of California at Irvine is leading a study on how robots can help long-term stroke victims regain their mobility. The study consists of 15 patients, who have an average age of 61 years. They all suffered a stroke at least 10 years before undergoing the robot assisted therapy and were taught to grip and gesture thanks to a robotic arm that cradled their hands.

The cradle helps shape the hand into the positions needed to perform tasks, helping work the appropriate muscles and reform the connections the brain needs to tell the hand to operate. After a few months of the therapy, the patients all improved and those who had more mobility to begin with showed rapid gains. Unsurprisingly, the patients with more disability would take longer to improve, but this is important because it demonstrates that robotic assistance is a viable way to help people regain mobility through therapy.

[Dvice]

This entry was posted on Friday, February 20th, 2009 at 2:08 pm and is filed under Medical. Be sure to subscribe to the Botropolis.com feed because it is really, really awesome. Have something you want to share? Please let us know.

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