Is technology going to catch up with stroke recovery needs?

In the last few years, we've seen lots of ideas about technology and recovery. You can find a few here.

Still, it's a little disheartening that high-tech solutions seem to always be just over the horizon instead of in place and available to all stroke survivors.

Stroke is the leading cause of disability, and most stroke survivors are included in those numbers. How much productivity can be regained if we truly harness technology to make a difference in these lives?

So, with that, here's another trial featuring cutting-edge treatments for stroke patients using videogames and robotic arms:

New therapeutic devices for stroke recovery, made possible by advances in hardware and software, are transforming the typically low-tech world of stroke rehabilitation. Though the tools are still in the early stages, doctors say that they can be more motivating and engaging for patients than current standard therapies, and that they hold promise for stroke survivors who are too injured for traditional therapy.

“We’re entering a very exciting era,” says Dr. David Putrino, director of telemedicine at the Burke Medical Research Institute in White Plains, N.Y. “All of these new tools can really help us do our jobs much better.”

Standing and playing: Might make a difference

Standing while playing, some recent research shows, your recovery might be better.

I ran across an interesting article on how virtual reality games may improve stroke recovery:

For their study, the researchers randomly divided 59 patients who had recently suffered a stroke into two groups.

With the help of therapists, people in both groups participated in a series of 10 to 12 virtual reality gaming sessions lasting 20 minutes each over three weeks.

One group stood to play the games and the other sat. Games included soccer goaltending and snowboarding and were designed so that people standing needed to shift their weight by leaning and reaching to succeed.

The mobility of participants in both groups improved, but the standing participants saw larger gains.

Now, the study was small - just 59 people - but it does make some sense that standing is better than sitting. Improving mobility is a challenge for many stroke survivors, and this and other studies might make a real difference for many.

Playing 'games' to improve recovery

We've see stories before about the idea of adapting video games and other technology for stroke recovery therapy.

As the motion sensor-based technology improves, more advances seem to be coming. For example, check this blurb and video how stroke recovery might be assisted by Microsoft's Kinect, specifically upper-limb motor functioning:

Stroke patients can get direct feedback about their recovery from the Kinect, which is able to capture the skeletal movements in real-time and relay the information back to the user. Stroke Recovery with Kinect features “three game-like exercises,” each of which requires the user to test his or her dexterity. This software could serve as an affordable, accessible addition to the recovery process for future sufferers. Check out a video of the program in action at Microsoft Research.

Video games and prayer

Even a game, it seems, can help answer prayers.

According to a story from Reuters, researchers designed video "games" to improve stroke survivors' hand control:

According to Kira Morrow from The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, and colleagues, the system consists of a modified Xbox that runs the training exercises, a virtual reality gaming glove that measures finger flexion and wrist position, a color monitor, and an Internet connection to a laptop used in software development.

Cost is cheap: $549, compared with more traditional systems that can run more than $17,000.

Personally, my hand control came back fairly quickly, although to this day my fine motor skills are not quite what they used to be. But the Xbox story reminded me of my own use of some of my daughters' "educational" toys to regain speaking and writing skills.

With all the complaints -- many completely justified -- about violent and distasteful video games, they can also give a hand to stroke victims.