Motorika Robot Therapy Helps Stroke Patients

Robot-assisted therapy is effective in improving arm and shoulder mobility in stroke patients, according to new research presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles.

Start about one minute in to see the device in action.


(ReoTherapy by Motorika Robot Therapy)

According to the study, 60 patients with hemiplegia (paralysis on one side of the body) due to a stroke were given physical therapy. Half of the group received robot-assisted therapy using a Reo Therapy System by Motorika Ltd. (Caesarea, Israel), which repeatedly moves the forearm in various pre-programmed directions. The other half spent the same amount of time undergoing traditional rehabilitation.

Star Wars fans have already prepared themselves for robotic help in recovery; the 2-1B autonomous medical droid could do surgery as well as rehab.


(2-1B medical droid from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)

I also thought of the "automatic massager," a fictional robot from A.E. van Vogt's 1944 story Far Centaurus. After being asleep for decades while traveling between the stars, what sort of machines will help restore vigor to the body?

Slowly, I pushed my hand toward the edge of the bed. Click! My fingers pressed the button that was there. There was a faint hum. The automatic massager began to fumble gently over my naked form.

First, it rubbed my arms; then it moved to my legs and so on over my body. As it progressed, I could feel the fine slick of oil that oozed from it working into my dry skin...
(Read more about the automatic massager)

From MedGadget.

Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 2/15/2011)

Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.

| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |

Would you like to contribute a story tip? It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add it here.

Comment/Join discussion (Back On) ( 2 )

Related News Stories - (" Medical ")

CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'- Philip K. Dick, 1964.

Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices used with your smartphone.

Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!

Mini-Livers Made By 3D Printer
Organlegging may not be the growth industry that some fear.

 

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

 

Current News

German Firm Seeks To Recruit Autistics
Not a deficit, but a strength.

NASA Supports Pizza Printer
Is it extra with printed pepperoni?

Could Ground-Based Lasers De-Orbit Space Junk?
'Then their lasers vaporized the smaller satellites...'

'Hello, Computer!' Google Now Highlighted at IO13
'Hello, computer!'

MIT Robot Cheetah Video Shows Gait Transition
'The legs are long, curled way up to deliver power, like a cheetah's.'

TrackingPoint Smart Rifle
Not your typical 'smart bullet' approach.

Sky City's 220 Stories Are Go
'It rested among green parklands and... stood in total isolation, a glittering block of whites and flashing windows dotted with colors.'

CARMAT Bioprosthetic Total Human Heart Replacement
'George Walt's corporate existence proved the workability of wholly mechanical organs...'

Personal Sniffer Robots
'...The ticking combinations of the olfactory system of the hound.'

Physical Exam? We've Got Apps
See the future of handheld, personal medical devices.

The Interplanetary Internet, Vint Cerf Speaking
'This was the center of Interplanetary Communications.'

Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
'... the Scarab [flying robot] buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might...'

Robo-Raven Flapping Wing Robot Bird
'When he had first built them, they had been crude indeed, flying mechanisms with little more than a reflex-response unit.'

Japan's Nursing Home Robot Plan
Let's make the Roujin Z-0001 Robotic Bed!

Samsung Smart TVs With Gesture Control
'He waved his hand and the circuit switched abruptly.'

Swiss HCPVT Giant Photovoltaic 'Flower'
'...leaning against one of the slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector.'

More SF in the News Stories

More Beyond Technovelgy science news stories

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.