tCDS Robotic Program - Final Report

 I have now completed my 12 week my therapy program at the Burke Rehab Hospital in White Plains, NY. I was very happy with the Program and wish I could continue. Or even better, I wish there was a Robotic Rehab Program available in my area. 

All in all, while my progress was not as great as I was hoping for, I still made measurable improvement in all areas. The quality of movement and strength of my shoulder/elbow showed an improvement of 40 to 50% according to their  final assessment. Unfortunately my wrist hand improvement was much more modest. I still can't open my hand or close it around an object to pick it up.  I also have trouble moving my wrist to the right. Darn! On the plus side, brain scans confirm that I am getting measurable activity down to my fingers, and am told the the recovery starts at the shoulder and progressively flows down the arm to the fingers. So I remain hopeful that this will continue to improve as I continue to work on the problem and regain more strength.

Here is the video made at the end of my Burke Rehab Hospital Program:

(If you have trouble playing the video on your iPhone/iPod/iPad, it can be played on your computer at  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnD9p3OCbck&list=UUSWNkkVfgPGtMDX-xqr0tYQ ).

Robotic Research Program -- (# 2)

I have now completed two weeks (six sessions) of my therapy program.Thanks to my sister Cynthia, and my brother-in-law Tom, I am staying in Mount Vernon,NY. The area is very nice, and my hosts are very nice, as is their home and by extension, my quarters. My commute consists of a train ride followed by a bus ride that takes me right to Burke Hospital. 

We previously touched on the this therapy utilizing robotics. Following is a more detailed description extracted froma Burke Hospital informational brochure:

The MIT-manus (the planar robot) was designed and built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and provides customized, goal-directed, robot assisted arm therapy. During therapy, the patient's hand and wrist are "held in a rigid support affixed to the robotic arm," and the patient must reach towards points in space that correspond to the positions of the targets on a screen. Throughout each therapy session, the participant completes a series of flexions, extensions, and rotational movements across the elbow and shoulder joints. If a limb is initially paralyzed, the robot will move it passively, but as motor function returns, the robot will require the patient to initiate progressively more movement. Thus as movements become increasingly accurate, it is believed that their trajectories are re-established and updated within the motor cortex.

Following is an InMotion HAND™ Robot Demo video which will give you a better 

idea of what is involved.

(If you have trouble playing the InMotion HAND™ Robot Demo video on your iPhone/iPod/iPad, it can be played on your computer at http://youtu.be/uuzB2iHkodE.)

Each session is scored by the computer and your progress is reflected on the monitor so that your progress can be tracked as you progress through your therapy. The following shows my progress moving through the prescribed motions. The chart on the left represents my initial capability prior to any robotic assistance. After a few cycles with robotic assistance, the chart on the right shows what I can do fter that on my own. Note how much smoother the motions are on the right side.

The following two charts represent the summary of 320 different readings in a day's theraapy. The significant readings are the Robot Power which indicates how much assistance was provided by the Robot, and the Motion Jerk which is a measure of how smooth her motions are. The targets for these readings are 200 and 100 respectively (the lower the better).

Robotic Research Program -- (# 1)

 I have signed up to be part of a part of a robotics research program. It's located in White Plains, New York at the Burke Rehab Hospital. Burke is a very well reputed rehab hospital and I was lucky enough to be included in a tDCS-Robotics Study. The study is to assess the effect of usin tDCS in conjunction with robotic training on regaining use of damaged function.

(If you have trouble playing the Venture capitalist Marc Tesler Burke Award Honoree video on your iPhone/iPod/iPad, it can be played on your computer at http://youtu.be/o1eNBsFskgE.)

 

(If you have trouble playing the Brief Description of the InMotion Robot and Human Interaction video on your iPhone/iPod/iPad, it can be played on your computer at http://youtu.be/MtxovOuCTvk.)

 

 

So far I have had two evaluation sessions preceding my actual therapy where they measured my baseline capabilities. I also had a speech evaluation to set a baseline as to my speech capability before the program begins. I will also have one at the completion to determine whether there was any improvement in my speech compatibilities. Today was the first session of the actual treatment. I will need to go three days a week for twelve weeks to complete the program.  

This programs involves applying electrodes to my head and applying an electric current to specific areas of my brain.

After that I move to a set of Robotic equipment where I take turns moving my arm (as best I can) in specific motions both under my own power and sometimes with the assistance of the robotic device.

I am looking forward to significant improvement in the use of my arm and hand, because I am broken. I want to try everything I can to work on my recovery.

STAY TUNED!