Tech & industry

Blesma member Darren Fuller recently became the first veteran to receive a ‘Hero Arm’; the world's first clinically approved 3D-printed bionic arm. Designed by Open Bionics, the Hero Arm is a lightweight and affordable myoelectric prosthesis, with a wide range of grip styles. Its functions range from pinch grips to thumbs up and everything in between. It is available now in the USA, UK and France for below elbow amputee adults and children aged eight and above. Darren served with the Parachute Regiment for 20 years and was injured whilst serving in Afghanistan, causing him to lose his right arm below the elbow.

Every person has the right to lead an active, fulfilling, independent life; but the complex array of disabilities that affect one’s grip can severely challenge this right. Active Hands founder Rob Smith certainly discovered this to be the case, after a cliff fall left him partially paralysed in all four limbs. Frustrated at his inability to grip the various gym apparatus and weights, he set about creating a glove that could fasten his hands to whatever was needed; and so the General Purpose Gripping Aid was born! Fast forward to present day and The Active Hands Company now carefully designs and stocks a wide range of high-quality gripping aids that cater to anyone with reduced hand function and are perfect for use in rehabilitation, sporting and gym activities, home and hobbies, and so much more.

Part of the funds will be used to boost research and development resources related to its lightweight exo-suit technology for various lower limb disabilities. The device is designed for use after stroke and in other indications affecting the ability to walk. Alongside other purposes, the funds will alo support the continued development of its spinal cord injury device.

Daily exposure to blue wavelength light each morning has been linked to enabling people to sleep better by ‘re-entraining’ their circadian rhythm. And researchers at the University of Arizona have now demonstrated that it may be particularly useful in people recovering from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). In a randomised clinical trial, adults with mTBI used a cube-like device that shone bright blue light at participants for 30 minutes early each morning for six weeks. Control groups were exposed to bright amber light.

When “combined with conventional rehabilitation” it has the potential to improve motor and cognitive performance in neurologic patients alongside “additional benefits” (Maier M et al, 2019). New tests of its efficacy continue to emerge, while technological advancement is blurring the lines between the real and virtually real. Few VR rehabilitation systems can boast as much clinical evidence as that developed by Barcelona tech firm Eodyne in partnership with SPECS-lab, part of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC).

  New York-based Spine Care Technologies, launched in March 2018, believes it has the answer in the Extentrac Elite; which enables non-surgical, drug free, disc and spine care treatment. The device is a multidirectional decompression device used to aid the treatment of spinal injuries, mostly from the thoracic (mid) to the lumbar (lower) spine. It is used in in the treatment of minor degenerative disc disease, through to drop-foot and serious neurological impingement.

>​It will affect around one in two stroke survivors, according to the Stroke Association, and roughly at least a third of people with MS. Meanwhile, over 80 per cent of people with Parkinson’s may be affected (Suttrup et al, 2016). Speech and language therapists and other rehab professionals may employ a range of techniques aimed at triggering swallowing reflex and strengthening muscles needed for chewing and swallowing.

“Exercise helps maintain brain connections and counters brain shrinkage from Parkinson's disease as well as from brain aging,” wrote Eric Ahlskog, a neurologist and author of The New Parkinson's Disease Treatment Book. More exercise is also being increasingly linked by researchers to faster stroke recoveries – and lower stroke risk. A systematic review of evidence published in November in the Journal of the American Heart Association (JAHA) examined 19 studies of aerobic training programmes for stroke survivors.

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.”

Swedish innovation the Mollii Suit is helping neuro- rehab patients with a range of conditions to regain lost functions and boost their quality of life, as Richard Welch explains here.