I still prefer the cockroach stomping app.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/unlimited/8223240/Cool-Kiwi-science-Mouse-aid-for-stroke-victims
The path to rehabilitation following a stroke can be long, arduous — and downright boring.
So researchers at Callaghan Innovation (formerly Industrial
Research/IRL) — have been thinking about how to put a bit of fun into
rehab for those suffering from the main cause of adult disability in New
Zealand and the rest of the developed world.
Their latest invention is a giant mouse game controller.
Essentially it’s a computer mouse built into an arm support, which
enables a stroke victim to then slide the mouse across a desk.
Accompanying the mouse is a suite of computer games, where players
are encouraged to swot mosquitoes, catch butterflies, hit targets and so
on.
The process of retraining the brain to learn how to move certain
parts of the body again requires countless repetitions of basic
movements.
By gamifying therapy, the idea is patients will be motivated to
increase their repetition of certain movements — intensifying their
rehabilitation — and be motivated to exceed their previous efforts.
Callaghan human movement scientist Dr Kimberlee Jordan has been
working on the project alongside lead scientist and distinguished
engineer Marcus King. Jordan says the development of the mouse has
diverse influences.
“It’s a mashup,” she says.
Around 2008, IRL scientists working at Burwood Hospital’s spinal
unit in Christchurch were looking at developing technology to help
people with spinal injuries.
While there, the scientists also started working with Burwood’s
brain injury unit after realising the magnitude of the stroke problem.
“A lot of people who have had strokes never really recover function
of their arm,” says Jordan. “That’s a problem in terms of them being
independent, and for those who are not of retirement age, being able to
go back to work.
“We had been working with a gaming company, Stickmen Studios, so we
decided we were going to make some computer games that would encourage a
lot of arm movement to help stroke patients rehabilitate.”
Jordan says previous stroke rehabilitation research had shown the
use of robots, paired with basic computer games, had proved effective.
But the robots were expensive — each costing hundreds of thousands
of dollars. “So the thought was we could take some aspects like the game
and make it more fun, and instead of a robot you’d need a game
controller,” she says “Also around that time Wii games had come out. It all melded
together in this idea that we could produce pretty affordable game
controllers that people with strokes could use, and use a lot of the
principles that had gone into the robot research, but basically make
them cheaper and more user-friendly.”
The giant mouse is the second stroke rehabilitation tool fully developed by the Callaghan scientists.
The first, a handlebar-type game controller called the Able-X, went on the market in 2010.
The Able-X is sold by Kiwi company Im-Able, which will also sell the
giant mouse, marketed as the Able Reach, in early 2013.
The computer games, developed by gaming firm CerebralFix (which is
housed along with the Callaghan scientists in Christchurch’s Epic
innovation hub) are also being constantly updated.
“The gaming element of this does make the whole rehabilitation process a lot more fun,” says Jordan.
“Rehabilitation is so repetitive. If you think about it, effectively
your brain has been damaged and you need to relearn how to move ... so
the games do make it quite a lot more fun and it provides a way to track
your progress.”
Each treatment using the device involves about 16 hours of game playing over a few weeks.
Both the Able-X and the giant mouse have been trialled with stroke
victims whose recovery had plateaud following previous therapy.
In both cases patients showed improvements in arm function by using the tools.
Another two tools are in IRL’s development pipeline and Jordan says
the vision is all four will form a rehabilitation system that will
provide a journey to stroke recovery.
“People who have had strokes get about six months of therapy and then that’s pretty much it,” says Jordan.
“And often people aren’t fully recovered or even close to being
fully recovered. Some people will never fully recover, but I’d say most
people coming out of this system will have really maximised what
potential they have for recovery.”
No comments:
Post a Comment