GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP—Clare McLaughlin concentrated as she maneuvered a joystick so her flying game character mimicked her movements on a computer screen and collected gold coins for points while evading the flying eagles and hawks that could derail her high score.
Although the points showed how well she was doing in the game, a different set of points being analyzed behind the scenes evaluated McLaughlin’s mobile and cognitive abilities. That score sheet would be used by medical experts to assess her arm, wrist and hand rehabilitation.
Rapidly evolving technology has driven medicine, including rehabilitation sciences, to new levels of treatment, experts say. Bacharach Institute for Rehabilitation revamped its neurorecovery therapy by training McLaughlin and other therapists on the latest rehabilitation technology.
It helps to have that perception into how they are performing and get feedback immediately from the screen in front of us,” McLaughlin, an occupational therapist, said. “If we want to work on the arm and improvement, it’s a good visual to have. Before, we were lacking that kind of feedback.”
A team of occupational therapists took turns training on the Hocoma Armeo automated therapeutic robot on a recent afternoon. They strapped themselves into what looked like a bionic arm and tested out the various games in the program.
Jose Antonio Tovar Sandoval, training specialist with manufacturer Hocoma, said while patients have fun playing from a choice of more than 20 games, the robotic programs will record a patient’s progress over a long period of time and provide statistical analysis of his or her rehabilitation.
The Armeo is one of several new therapy equipment and robotic technology coming to Bacharach’s new James Klinghoffer Neurorecovery Center, opening mid January. The center was named after the local philanthropist and Longport resident donated $1 million to the institute in June.
“I thought, from my own perspective, if I had a stroke and had a spastic arm, what would it be worth to get treatment to help me dress myself again,” said Gabe Staino, Bacharach senior development officer. “Just the idea that I could be independent enough to dress myself, to walk again . . . these devices take it to another level.”
The new technology will assist with both physical and occupational therapy for patients who may be recovering from or managing stroke damage, traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and children with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders.
The robotic and computer technology can accommodate a range of patients and mobility. Hocomo’s Andago straps patients upright and provides body support for people who want to improve in walking while MYRO’s Tyromotion is a cognitive therapy tool that records pressure sensitivity, visual range and sensor precision as a patient plays games and activities on a giant touch screen monitor.
Hocoma’s Lokomat, perhaps the most impressive, gets a severely impaired patient strapped into robotic legs while the machine supports the body in an upright position so that the robot can work the patient’s legs on a treadmill in a natural way.
McLaughlin, a therapist for 25 years, said new technological advances provide more consistent ways to track patient data as well as provide measurable outcomes and information for research purposes.
“It’s (rehabilitation) has come so far,” she said. “The value in robotic technology is how well it’s thought out. We used to have to force a patient into (routines), but now we can customize everything to the patient’s precise needs and abilities.”
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/video-games-or-therapy-new-rehabilitation-technology-combines-both/article_490b2812-2710-50a6-b0b8-b8c0521ff9ea.html
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