Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Robots Uncover Stroke Disabilities

If I was evaluated for proprioception I don't remember and I know there was no therapy tried for that deficit. 
http://biomedme.com/general/robots-uncover-stroke-disabilities_40453.html
Rehabilitation robots improve detection of post-stroke impairments and can enhance the type and intensity of therapy required for recovery, according to a study.
Researchers studied 185 subjects – 87 recovering from stroke and 98 people unaffected by stroke – and found that tests using a robot better measure patients’ sense of limb position, speed and direction of limb movement. Patients were assessed approximately 15 days after stroke.
“For years, therapists have known that limb awareness is very important to predicting a person’s outcomes after stroke. Yet we have never before been able to quantify it,” says lead researcher Doctor Sean Dukelow. “Identifying these deficits opens the door to the next step: how do we treat it?”
Until now, rehabilitation experts have relied on their judgment and subjective rating scales to assess impairment after stroke. Robotic technology standardizes these measurements.
“Awareness and control of our limbs’ location allows us to do everyday things like reach for a coffee cup while watching television,” Dukelow says.
In the Calgary study, a robotic frame moved each patient’s stroke-affected arm at a preset speed and direction while they attempted to mirror its movement with their unaffected arm. Participants were not able to rely on their vision for assistance.
The researchers found:
• 20 per cent of the stroke patients failed to acknowledge that the robot had moved their affected arm;
• 70 per cent of stroke patients took significantly longer to react to the robot’s movements;
• 78 per cent of stroke patients had significantly impaired sense of movement direction; and
• 69 per cent had diminished ability to match movement speed.
“Impaired limb function is a serious problem for people with stroke,” says Doctor Mark Bayley. “It can prevent people from performing small daily tasks that give them some measure of independence.”
The final goal of precise assessment is more patient-specific treatment, a concept Dukelow calls “personalized medicine.” Ideally, robotics will be used to guide patients through the repetitive movements and personalized treatment plans required to remap the brain and restore function.

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