When someone you love is recovering from a serious neurological event like stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI) or a spinal cord injury, you want them to have the very best when it comes to rehabilitation services.
Today, rehabilitation therapists have more tools than ever to help patients rebuild strength and mobility and regain independence after a severe neurologic event — including robotics.
Robotic devices help skilled rehabilitation professionals safely retrain both the brain and body after a neurologic injury. Thanks to robotics, patients can experience more engaging therapy sessions, see measurable progress more quickly, and even regain functions that may have once seemed out of reach.
As robotics continue to become a bigger part of acute rehabilitation, they're changing not only how therapy is delivered, but what's possible during recovery.
What are acute rehab services?
“Patients typically receive acute rehab services in instances when they would benefit from a combination of physical, occupational and speech therapy,” explained Kristen Iverson, PT, DPT, Manager of Acute Rehab Services at the John M. Boler Center for Rehabilitation with Endeavor Health. “These are patients with conditions that require close oversight from physicians.”
Many patients in acute rehab have had some sort of neurologic event such as a stroke or brain injury, as well as patients with other diagnoses like post-spinal surgery, cardiac diagnoses, pulmonary diagnoses, and amputations.
How are robotics used in rehabilitation?
“Robotics is an excellent way to enhance rehabilitation because it can help patients practice movements or communication skills with greater intensity and consistency,” said Iverson. “At the John M. Boler Center for Rehabilitation, we are fortunate to have multiple pieces of robotic technology.”
Some of these robotic-assisted devices include:
- The Lokomat. This device combines an adjustable robotic exoskeleton with an integrated treadmill. It can initiate gait training at an earlier phase of recovery or at a higher intensity than would otherwise be possible.
- Hocoma ArmeoSpring and AemeoSenseo. These are robotic upper-extremity trainers that provide visual feedback, allowing the patient to participate in games and challenges that improve their range of motion.
- The C-Mill. This is a virtual reality treadmill that allows patients to practice balance, standing and gait training through games and different visual scenarios. It helps keep the patient engaged during their therapy session and enables therapists to create more and more advanced challenges for the patient.
“These devices enable our therapists to increase the intensity of their therapy sessions for the benefit of the patient while keeping both themselves and our patients safe,” explained Iverson.
Robotics, stroke and cognitive decline
“After a patient has had a stroke, their functional and cognitive level can be very different from their baseline,” said Iverson. “Our robotics allow us to start engaging weak muscles earlier and provide enhanced repetitions, intensity and engagement in our therapy sessions.”
Robotics can also be used throughout a stroke patient’s recovery period. When a patient is just beginning rehab, therapists often start them on the Lokomat. As their recovery progresses, they can move on to body-weight support or the C-Mill for higher-level balance and gait training.
Robotics can also be helpful in patients with cognitive decline by increasing engagement through visual stimuli and feedback. It can also help with consistency and number of repetitions, which can aid in cognitive recovery.
The future of robotics in rehabilitation
“I believe the role robotics plays in rehab should be expanded,” said Iverson. “Robotics can not only help increase intensity and repetition of interventions, but they can provide valuable data and measurements into a person’s progress.”
Because robotics can measure gait patterns, reaction time, and other measures that can be tracked over time in a patient’s rehab, they have the potential to lessen the physical impact of rehab on a therapist.
The robotics’ body weight support and gait training also help therapists with physically lifting the patient, allowing them to focus more on the intensity and quality of the treatments while protecting and prolonging their ability to safely provide care.
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