Stroke Patients Take the Lead in Their Rehabilitation
From: Medical Design Technology - 05/09/2017

Current rehabilitation solutions are not always effective in improving
mobility declines the first few months after a stroke. This is where EPFL
startup Intento comes in with a new device that can help patients regain
mobility in their arms.

One common stroke-rehabilitation method used today is functional electrical
stimulation: the therapist places electrodes on the patient's skin, adjusts
the stimulus intensity, and delivers an electrical shock that makes the
patient's muscles move. However, studies have shown that this therapy works
better when the patients are actively involved in moving their own limbs.

Intento leveraged the benefits of self-regulating electrical pulses to
develop a system that lets the patient take the lead in rehabilitation their
arms. With Intento's device, patients self-administer the electrical
stimulation to generate the desired motor functions and perform basic tasks.
Even severely paralyzed patients can use the new system to regain control of
an arm and work towards a more active therapy.

Intento's system consists of electrode patches, a device the patients control
using their working hand, and tablet software also developed by Intento. The
therapist selects one of several programmed movements on the tablet and loads
it, with a single click, onto the device. The program shows where the
electrodes need to be placed and automatically configures the electrical
pulse settings to generate the desired movement. Patients then move their
functioning hand to control the electrical stimulation needed to, for
example, pick up a glass or press a button. The ultimate aim is that, after a
number of repetitions, patients can perform the movements without using the
device.

Read the entire article at:
https://www.mdtmag.com/news/2017/05/stroke-patients-take-lead-their-rehabilitation
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-05/epfd-spt050917.php

Links:
Intento
http://www.intento.ch

Electrically Assisted Movement Therapy in Chronic Stroke Patients with Severe
  Upper Limb Paresis: A Pilot, Single-Blind, Randomized Crossover Study
http://www.archives-pmr.org/article/S0003-9993(17)30166-1/fulltext