Robotics offers new hope for stroke victims - Finland

I'm sure this will never get to the US because of cost.
http://yle.fi/uutiset/robotics_offers_new_hope_for_stroke_victims/7001287
This is just symptomatic of the problems in stroke research. They are looking for solutions in rehabilitation rather than the  stopping  of the neuronal cascade of death which could prevent  a lot of the disability in the first place. 

Neurosurgeons in Helsinki have teamed up with robotics experts to develop new ways of helping stroke patients. Their pioneering techniques are generating interest from doctors across the world.

Electronics professor Raimo Sepponen (centre) and Doctor Marja Hietanen demonstrate new methods of rehabilitation for stroke patients. Image: Yle

A new rehabilitation and diagnostic room at Helsinki University Hospital offers stroke patients opportunities above and beyond traditional pen and paper or onscreen tests. The floor of the SALI room has inbuilt sensors, as do the walls, and a patient's movement, response times, pathways and choices are all logged and evaluated.
"We are using different kind of stimuli, visual, auditive and movement, because this is actually what happens in everyday life situations,” says Dr Marja Hietanen from the hospital’s neuropsychology unit. “All the time we register information that comes via eyes, ears and movement."
Strokes affect some 15,000 people a year in Finland. What many don't realize is that a quarter are of working age. A fast and thorough recovery is valuable, not only for the individual, but also in terms of actively keeping people in the workforce.
Dr Hietanen teamed up with technical experts at Aalto University to develop a more hands-on approach to stroke patient care.

Rehab and entertainment

"It's very important that we think about people, how they get along in their everyday life and also if they are able to go back to work, for example, after a stroke," Hietanen says.
The collaboration was born two years ago when Professor of Electronics Raimo Sepponen and his team were developing an intelligent floor. It can tell when an elderly person or patient takes a fall, sending an alert to carers or even relatives.
For patients, it's both excellent rehab and great entertainment, and since the project is in the testing phase, the more data flowing in, the better.
"I have been contacted by people from Turkey and also from New Zealand who plan to cooperate with us and maybe build a similar system," Sepponen says.
In a world ever more brimming with stimuli, it's hoped that this patient-centred, multi-sensory approach will become the global standard.