Device Helps Rebuild Neural Connections for Stroke Patients
From: Medical Design Technology - 07/16/2014

The repetitive facilitation exercise (RFE) is one of the most common
rehabilitation tactics for stroke patients attempting to regain wrist
movement. Stroke hemiparesis individuals are not able to move that part of
their body because they cannot create a strong enough neural signal that
travels from the brain to the wrist.

With RFE, however, patients get a mental boost. They are asked to think about
moving. At the same time, a practitioner flexes the wrist. The goal is to
send a long latency response from the stretch that arrives in the brain at
the exact time the thought happens, creating a neural signal. The result is a
strong, combined response that zips back to the forearm muscles and moves the
wrist.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/07/device-helps-rebuild-neural-connections-stroke-patients

Links:
Making a mental match: pairing a mechanical device with stroke patients
http://www.news.gatech.edu/2014/07/16/making-mental-match-pairing-mechanical-device-stroke-patients

Making a Mental Match (with video 0:51)
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2014/07/photos-day-making-mental-match

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Mechanical Device Aims to Aid Stroke Patients in Rehabilitation Exercise
From: PT Products - 07/25/2014

A new mechanical device developed by researchers at the Georgia Institute of
Technology is designed to aid stroke patients with the repetitive
facilitation exercise (RFE), a rehabilitation tactic for stroke survivors to
attempt to regain wrist movement. With RFE, patients are asked to think about
moving the wrist while a practitioner flexes the wrist. The goal is to send a
long latency response from the stretch that arrives in the brain at the exact
time the thought happens, creating a neural signal, according to a Georgia
Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) news release.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.ptproductsonline.com/2014/07/mechanical-device-aims-aid-stroke-patients-rehabilitation-exercise/