Smarter rehab

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London, have clinically validated and tested the AI on large sets of CT scans, and found that it was successfully able to detect, segment, quantify and differentiate different types of brain lesions. The results could be useful in large-scale research studies, for developing more personalised treatments for head injuries and, with further validation, could be useful in certain clinical scenarios, such as those where radiological expertise is at a premium. Head injury is a huge public health burden around the world and affects up to 60 million people each year.

Back in 2000, the world was a very different place, particularly in terms of technology. Many of the high-tech innovations we now accept as standard were not yet launched and healthcare remained one of the most traditional markets around. Yet into this climate, Hocoma launched the prototype of its pioneering Lokomat, a robotic medical device which provides repetitive and highly physiological gait training to patients, enabling even some of the most impaired to learn to walk again.

The agreement means people with spinal cord injuries in Germany could benefit from use of the ReWalk 6.0 exoskeleton sysyem. This deal could have a significant impact for spinal cord injured individuals. Under this agreement, eligible beneficiaries will be able to obtain a ReWalk 6.0 exoskeleton device for use in the home that will enable them to stand and walk again, after successful training and verification by the medical service. Three SCI beneficiaries have already received access on the back of the news.

Most severe TBIs are treated in intensive care units (ICUs), but in spite of proper and high- quality care, about one in three patients dies, researchers behind the study say. Their paper aims to use AI to tackle the challenge of accurately monitoring TBI patients in intensive care when they are unconscious. The Finnish researchers say: “In the ICU, many tens of variables are continuously monitored – such as intracranial pressure, mean arterial pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure – that indirectly give information regarding the condition of the patient. “However, only one variable, such as intracranial pressure, may yield hundreds of thousands of data points per day. Thus, it is impossible for the human brain to comprehend the resulting millions of daily collected data points from all monitored data.”

While exoskeletons have been in existence for several years, it is only more recently the star as a rehab tool is rising. Usage among people with severe injuries has increased significantly, and the benefits they can bring to their lives are becoming more widely recognised.

The year ahead is seen as a potentially very significant period in the further development of the exoskeleton, with increasingly high-technology versions being developed, alongside those made for a home environment, rather than a traditional clinical setting.

Many sceptics still point to cost as being a prohibitive factor in the more mainstream use of exoskeletons, but ongoing medical trials are generating new levels of interest and attracting funding to aid

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a magnetically steerable, thread-like robot that can actively glide through narrow, winding pathways, such as those found in the brain. In the future, this robotic thread may enable doctors to remotely guide the robot through a patient’s brain vessels to quickly treat blockages and lesions; according to an MIT press release. Xuanhe Zhao, associate professor of mechanical engineering and of civil and environmental engineering at MIT, says: “If acute stroke can be treated within the first 90 minutes or so, patients’ survival rates could increase significantly.

Robot pets

Anna Khan woke up in February 2016 adamant that it was still 2015, but the date was correct - she had ‘lost’ almost two months of her life. The Sheffield lass had been walking home from college with her twin sister and best friend Lauren when a car hit her; she was thrown over the [...]

Spinal cord stimulation and physical therapy have helped a man paralysed since 2013 regain his ability to stand and walk with assistance. The results were achieved in a US research collaboration between Mayo Clinic and UCLA. With an implanted stimulator, the man was able to step with a front-wheeled walker while trainers provided occasional assistance. [...]

iReadMore provides computer-based reading therapy using written and spoken words and pictures, and aims to improve word-reading speed and accuracy. It was developed by the Aphasia Lab, part of the UCL Institute of Neurology.
Stroke patients typically need around 100 hours of speech and language therapy (SaLT), to see a marked improvement. The NHS, however, provides [...]