Robot and Virtual Reality System Effective in Post-Stroke Treatment
Published: Jan 25, 2009Patients who’ve had a stroke and were rehabilitated using a robot to navigate virtual reality environments walked faster and a greater distance following physical therapy compared to those trained with the robot alone, according to researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey (UMDNJ)-School of Health Related Professions.
This study is believed to be the first to demonstrate improved walking ability in the laboratory and the community following rehabilitation with the robot-virtual reality system according to the researchers. “Effects of Training With a Robot-Virtual Reality System Compared With a Robot Alone on the Gait of Individuals After Stroke” details their results and will appear in the March print edition of Stroke, a journal on cerebrovascular diseases published by the American Heart Association. The article is available online now for journal subscribers.
“A robot alone only gives you a mechanism for doing the exercise. There is lots of repetition, which is a really big part of getting better, but the argument is you have to do the exercise for a purpose,” explained Judith E. Deutsch, PT, PhD, professor and director of the Research in Virtual Environments and Rehabilitation Sciences (RIVERS) Lab in the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions and a co-author of this study.
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