ROBOT REHAB

ASEE Prism, Oct 2005 by Grose, Thomas K

MEDICINE

SMALL, LIGHTWEIGHT robotic devices are proving to be valuable tools in helping stroke victims regain movement in damaged nerve cells. Therapists have long relied on repetitive training, which "teaches" other neurons to take over for the damaged ones. But most patients stop improving after three months. Now mechanical engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), working with physicians at a Veterans Health Administration research facility in Baltimore, have developed a prototype machine, dubbed "Anklebot," that helps stroke victims re-learn ankle movement control so they can walk again. The device monitors, then guides and assists a patient's ankle in repetitive exercises. The $50,000 prototype uses a technology similar to the MIT-Manus, a robotic device the MIT team developed seven years ago to help stroke victims regain arm movement. The MIT-Manus has been through six successful clinical trials, involving 300 patients, and it has been found to work twice as well as conventional therapies. Researchers envision in the not-too-distant future entire gymnasiums full of robotic therapy machines that help patients regain control over various body parts. Says MIT mechanical engineering professor Hermano Igo Krebs: "We are at the cusp of a revolution in the way rehabilitation medicine is practiced." -TG