Robot Therapy
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Evangeline Herrera has her hand on the future. After suffering a stroke back in September, Evangeline's left arm and hand were completely useless. When she came here to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island, therapists found she would be a perfect candidate for this experimental robotic therapy. "It helps a lot!"
Dr. Stephen Mernoff, a neurologist here at RHRI says, "It's basically a robot that's designed for upper limb rehab after stroke and hopefully, someday, after other neurologic injury."
This cutting edge technology is being used in addition to other more traditional forms of physical therapy as part of a study. The hope is that this robot will help stroke patients regain function of their arms and hands. The robot offers several "games" or exercises, that encourage patients, like Evangeline, to move her arm which increases her mobility. It tracks her progress as well as adapts as her strength grows.
"This gives us a little more objective information of how a patient's doing," says Dr. Mernoff. Evangeline used it every day for an hour in the weeks she spent here in the hospital. Her granddaughter says she notices her improvements, "This therapy gave her a lot of strength and energy and now she can move her arm and twist it around."
Six months after her stroke, Evangeline is now back on her feet and back at home with her family. The hospital hopes other patients will be as lucky.
Landmark is currently recruiting more patients for another study involving robotic therapy, including patients who suffered a stroke as long as six months ago. To get more information you can call 766-0800, Ext. 5311 or click here.
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