Deans' stroke musings: Kessler Foundation receives $1M grant to study Ekso Bionics exoskeleton

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.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Kessler Foundation receives $1M grant to study Ekso Bionics exoskeleton

This is going to be biased and worthless. They are ignoring all the other possible exoskeltons that might help with walking. Damn, a great stroke association president would ream these people out and present a valid strategy to solve these rehabilitation problems.
Like these:

1. Keeogo™, a Powered Assistive Walking Device

2. Unplugged Powered Suit supports human movement

3. Exoskeleton to Ensure an Active Old Age

4. The H2 robotic exoskeleton for gait rehabilitation after stroke: early findings from a clinical study

5. LOPES Robotic Exoskeleton Helps Stroke Victims Walk Again

6. Gait training early after stroke with a new exoskeleton - the hybrid assistive limb: a study of safety and feasibility

7. Honda Walking Assist Device

8. DARPA is funding the development of a soft, fabric-based exoskeleton

9. A neuromechanics-based powered ankle exoskeleton to assist walking post-stroke: a feasibility study

10. These exoskeleton heels could help stroke victims walk again

11. Novel robotic walker invented by NUS researchers helps patients regain natural gait and increases productivity of physiotherapists

12. Cyberdyne Hal from Japan

13. Woman in Bionic Suit Runs Marathon

14. Kickstart - New technology to help stroke survivors walk

http://www.healio.com/orthotics-prosthetics/industry-news/news/online/%7Bd50ee946-119a-439b-bf4d-c43905730eb4%7D/kessler-foundation-receives-1m-grant-to-study-ekso-bionics-exoskeleton

Kessler Foundation recently announced it will use an Ekso Bionics exoskeleton in a grant-funded trial to develop new applications for wearable robotic exoskeletons.

According to a press release from Ekso Bionics, the multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) is funded by a $1 million grant from the federal government. The project, entitled “Robotic Exoskeleton Gait Training during Acute Stroke Rehabilitation,” will explore the clinical, functional and neurophysiological effectiveness of early intervention gait therapy for stroke patients using a wearable robotic exoskeleton. The researchers will look for evidence of improvements in functional independence measure and neurophysiological outcomes for patients using the Ekso GT exoskeleton.

“We are encouraged by our preliminary data demonstrating functional improvements in participants who gait train using Ekso GT and are excited to expand our research to help further validate our early findings,” Karen J. Nolan, PhD, senior research scientist in Human Performance and Engineering Research at Kessler Foundation, said in the release. “The findings of this multicenter RCT will have the potential to make a significant impact on the utilization of [robotic exoskeleton] technology to advance stroke rehabilitation.”

The study will include 96 patients at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation who are within 2 weeks of stroke onset and will assign participants randomly to one of three groups to receive robotic exoskeleton care, traditional gait training/standard of care or crossover care.

The project is one of five joint projects conducted by Kessler Foundation and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with a $5 million federal grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research entitled, Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Wearable Robots (NIDILRR #90RE5021-01-00), with $2 million designated for the application of the Ekso GT in brain injury and spinal cord injury.

Richard Foulds, PhD, associate professor of bioengineering at NJIT, is the principal investigator. Guang Yue, PhD, director of Human Performance & Engineering Research at Kessler Foundation is the co-principal investigator.

Deans' stroke musings