LegTutor, 3DTutor Assist Balance Therapy for Parkinson’s Patients

Abigail L. Leddy, Beth E. Crowner and Gammon M. Earhart of the Washington University School of Medicine writing in the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association discuss a study pertaining to balance in Parkinson’s disease patients.
Balance impairment, gait impairments and falls are prevalent in Parkinson disease (PD) patients. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) can be considered the reference standard for the determination of the risk of falling but it has a noted ceiling effect. Development of ceiling-free measures that can assess balance and are good at discriminating “fallers” from “nonfallers” is needed, was their conclusion.
The LEGTUTOR™ is used for Parkinson’s disease patients and also orthopedic and trauma rehabilitation as it offers the possibility to do repetitive isolated and combined movement practice. Patients with neurological lower limb movement impairments including stroke, CP and spinal and brain injury patients also benefit from the use of the LEGTUTOR. The LEGTUTOR along with its sister products, the ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR, allow for controlled exercise of single and multi joints within the normal movement pattern This prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
For balance therapy a LEGTUTOR or 3DTUTOR is placed on the less impaired leg and/or on the more impaired leg.
Then the patient stands on one leg (either impaired or healthy) and then plays an aiming game like “darts” which is one of the games on the dedicated TUTOR software. This way it strengthens both the legs and works on balance + cognition.
The LEGTUTOR™ and the ARMTUTOR, HANDTUTOR and 3DTUTOR – the TUTOR system– is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM.

HandTutor Augments Physical Therapy for Stroke Patients

A study was published in the EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL AND REHABILITATION MEDICINE on September 2011 that discusses the transfer of motor skill learning from the healthy hand to the paretic hand in stroke patients.
Drs. C.D. Ausenda and M.Carnovali of the Department of Rehabilitation, San Carlo Borromeo Hospital, Milan, Italy and the Department of Rehabilitation, Passirana Hospital, Garbagnate, Milan, Italy wrote that bilateral transfer of a motor skill is a phenomenon based on the observation that the performance of a skill with one hand can “teach” the same skill to the other hand. In this study the ability of bilateral transfer to facilitate the motor skill of the paretic hand in patients that suffered a stroke was tested.
A nine hole peg test was used and no significant difference was found in the control group.
It was the first evidence that bilateral transfer of motor skills is present in patients that suffered a stroke, and that it can improve the ability of the affected hand.
The HANDTUTOR is a newly developed tool that allows for the strengthening of the motor skills in stroke patients.
The goal in rehabilitation is to return the patient’s functional ability to as near as possible to the pre event state. The stroke survivor wants and needs to become as independent as possible and to relearn basic skills like eating, dressing and walking. This will preserve their dignity and reduce the burden on family carers and the community.
Improving functional capability of the stroke patient is the main goal of the TUTOR system. The mainstay tool to improve functional ability post stroke of a physiotherapist and occupational therapist is manual therapy and intensive repetitve exercise practice. It is for this reason that major rehabilitation centers in the USA and abroad are using the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR. This newly developed TUTOR system optimizes motor, sensory and cognitive performance to allow the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks and improve quality of life.
Manual therapy with the TUTOR system uses augmented feedback and encourages motor learning through intensive active exercises. The exercises that are done with the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUOR are tailored by the occupational and physiotherapist to the patient’s movement ability and are challenging and motivating. The system also includes objective quantitative evaluations that provide the therapist information to customize the most suitable rehabilitation program to the patient’s ability. The TUTOR system can also be used in an outpatient and home care setting. Physiotherapists and occupational therapists can offer their patients telerehabilitation with the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR system.

LegTutor, 3DTutor and ArmTutor Offer Complementary Therapy to Wounded Marine

Christine Cooley was prepared to accompany the body of her son, Sgt. Joshua Cooley, home from Iraq after he suffered severe injuries from an IED in 2005.
With the front third of his brain lost, the majority of his body covered in burns and with countless pieces of shrapnel in his body he wasn’t expected to survive. But Joshua had the undying spirit of a Marine and the helping hands of the Healing Heroes Network. He began to make amazing progress up to a point but his left hand and leg were still weak and not usable.
Along came Dr. Allan Spiegel in Tampa Bay, Fla., who had a specialty in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Funded by the Healing Heroes Network progress now was sped up immensely and Josh was eventually able to get back on his horse for rides as well as accomplish further limited chores. One of the overriding issues was to get his left side back to as a normal a mobility status as possible.
The TUTORS (HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR) present an excellent supplement to new and traditional therapies for brain injury patients with incomplete paralysis. This is because the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR allow the physical and occupational therapist to give patients customized, intensive and repetitive exercise practice according to their movement ability. This allows for the dose and intensiveness of manual therapy to be increased as the patient is motivated to do the correct exercises without doing compensatory movement . The HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR have been shown to improve range of motion as well as speed and accuracy of movement and improve functional movement ability in patients with brain,spinal cord injuries, Parkinson’s disease, CP, MS,stroke, Radial and Ulnar nerve and Brachial Plexus injuries, and other disabling diseases. The HANDTUTOR is being used in leading rehabilitation departments in the US and other countries in addition to outpatient and private clinics. Patients discharged from inpatient rehabilitation departments are benefiting from the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR and the intensive exercise practice in the comfort of their own homes supported by tele rehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

Train Wreck Victim Can Receive Much Needed Help From the LegTutor

Wang Hongyi reports in China Daily.com on December 29, 2011 about the future for the toddler survivor of the high-speed train crash in July. It does not look as if it is going to be too smooth a recovery.
Xiang Weiyi, the 2-year-old girl nicknamed Yiyi, from Wenzhou, East China’s Zhejiang province, was rescued from the wreck 20 hours after a deadly train accident in Wenzhou. Unfortunately her parents were killed in the accident.
The girl’s left leg was badly injured as she was stuck in the wreckage for a long time, In August she was transferred for further treatment to a Shanghai hospital. Doctors at the first hospital feared they would have to amputate her leg.
After several months of intense treatment, the girl is walking again.
“The recovery of the nerve on her foot was much bettert han our earlier expectation. Since recovery of the nervous system is of crucial importance, we can expect the motor and sensory functions of her leg to improve gradually,”said Du Qing, a doctor from Shanghai Xinhua Hospital’s rehabilitation treatment department.
Now that cleaning up of her wounds and the skin grafting on her leg are complete, Yiyi has entered the phase of rehabilitation therapy. Under the rehabilitation plan made by medical experts, the girl has to go through a three-hour training period daily.
Since the LEGTUTOR has been designed to treat children as well as adults this innovative device bodes well for Yiyi’s future.
The LEGTUTOR™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity. Together with the 3DTUTOR the LEGTUTOR can be used to increase the patient’s proprioception performance with dedicated games being developed in the rehabilitation software for this outcome. The TUTOR system rehabilitation concept, which also includes the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR and 3DTUTOR, is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level including balance and proprioception training. This is achieved with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging rehabilitation games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injuries and disease. The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice. Exercise practice is the most important manual therapy tool in the armory of physical and occupational therapists to ensure optimal rehabilitation.
The LEGTUTOR also allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patient’s exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The LEGTUTOR system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide for both neurological and orthopedic patients including adults and children. The TUTOR system holds FDA and CE certification. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

Brain Injury Therapy can be Maximized by the Tutor System

It was reported by Joaquin Sapien, and Daniel Zwerdling in NPR Dec. 15, 2011 that Senator Claire McCaskill, chairwoman of the Senate Contracting Oversight Subcommittee, wants answers on the program to test soldiers for brain injuries
The Senator has demanded answers from the military about its neurological testing program from Army Secretary John McHugh.
The issue is a computerized cognitive test called the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics, or ANAM. Under an order from Congress to implement testing, the military began administering the ANAM to help detect brain injuries among troops deployed to war zones. However our investigation found that the military is using the test in a way that the process to select it was marred by bias and that makes the results unreliable.
McCaskill’s request comes after an amendment to help fix the testing program was eliminated from the House version of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act earlier this week. Rep. Bill Pascrell, D. N.J.,the amendment’s author expressed discontent with the program’s implementation and with the efforts Congress’ is using to mend it.
Pascrell said that the problem of brain injuries among our servicemen is not being addressed.
The newly developed HANDTUTOR and its sister devices (ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, 3DTUTOR) have become a key system in neuromuscular rehabilitation for stroke victims and those recovering from brain and spinal injuries, Parkinson’s, MS, CP and other limb movement limitations. These innovative devices implement an impairment based program with augmented motion feedback that encourages motor learning through intensive active exercises and movement practice. The HandTutor ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor consist of wearable glove and braces that detect limb movement showing the patient how much active or assisted active movement they are actually doing. The rehabilitation software uses special rehabilitation games to set a new target for this movement in terms of the patients ability to move their limb. The devices then measure the limb movement and give feedback on the success of the patient in trying to gain this new movement objective. In this way the patient is given movement feedback that allows the patient to understand which effort is more successful in allowing them to move their affected limb again. That is how the Tutor system provides exercises that are challenging and motivating and allows for repetitive and intensive exercise practice. The HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR are now part of the rehabilitation programs of leading U.S. German, Italian, French, UK and other foreign hospitals. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

Spinal Cord Injury Treated by Tutor System in Physiotherapy

July 25, 2008, started as a typical summer day for Brandon Armstrong as he and a few friends grabbed their rods and reels to go fishing by a train trestle in a creek near his home in Joyce, in Winn Parish. While the boys planned on spending the day fishing, they also decided to bring along a .22 caliber rifle to do some target practice. In short Armstrong suffered a severe brain injury after being shot in the back of the head during a hunting accident., The family has continued his therapy in one centralized location, in HealthSouth Outpatient Rehabilitation Clinic in Alexandria. Armstrong is slowly recovering from his injury with the help of extensive therapy.
The TUTOR has been shown to improve the chances of restoring full mobility to brain injury patients. Occupational therapists use the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, 3DTUTOR – known as theTUTOR system as a manual therapy tool to help them with their rehabilitative work., The TUTOR system has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The newly developedTUTORS consist of ergonomic wearable devices. The HANDTUTOR is a glove for hand therapy and the ARMTUTOR is an arm brace for elbow and shoulder rehabilitation. The system is indicated for patients who have suffered a stroke, head/brain injury, SCI, CP, MS, Parkinson’s disease and other mobility restraining illnesses. It is used by occupational therapists and physiotherapists in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction., The system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. The dedicated rehabilitation software allows the physical and occupational therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the OT and PT can make objective follow up and reports on their patients progress. Rehabilitation aims to optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The TUTORS are certified by the FDA and CE See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

The Tutor System Helps Create Greater Life Satisfaction During Physiotherapy After SCI

A study in DISABILITY and REHABILITATION in the December 2011 issue discusses a study of the life satisfaction level of persons who had suffered a spinal cord injury. This study took place during the 5 years following discharge from a rehabilitation facility.
Slight increases in life satisfaction were reported from two to five years post-discharge but no changes in mean life satisfaction ratings were found between discharge and two years later.
The significant determinants of a positive course of life satisfaction after discharge were high functional independence, low pain, high everyday social support, and high self-efficacy were .
Since the TUTORS–HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR– are patient controlled for active rehabilitation exercises the satisfaction level of progress is higher than if physical therapy is only administered in the standard way.
Occupational therapists use the TUTOR system as a manual therapy tool to help them with their rehabilitative work.
The TUTOR system has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The newly developed TUTORS consist of ergonomic wearable devices. The HANDTUTOR is a glove for hand therapy and the ARMTUTOR is an arm brace for elbow and shoulder rehabilitation. The system is indicated for patients who have suffered a stroke, head/brain injury, SCI, CP, MS, Parkinson’s disease and other mobility restraining illnesses. It is used by occupational therapists and physiotherapists in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. The dedicated rehabilitation software allows the physical and occupational therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the OT and PT can make objective follow up reports on their patients progress. Rehabilitation aims to optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The TUTORS are certified by the FDA and CE See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

LegTutor Complements New Knee Replacement Surgery

A new robotic surgeon has been performing operations with astounding results, cutting the knee replacement surgery recovery time in patients down drastically. Patients are checking themselves into the OR, undergoing the surgery and leaving on the same day. Some already walking out of the doors only with the aid of a cane.
Rio the robot has been completing knee replacement surgeries while under the supervision of skilled human surgeons in many hospitals across the United States. Prior to the surgery, a CT scan gives the doctors a 3D view of the knee. What makes the surgery easier and more precise are computer sensors that show doctors exactly where the knee is. Sensors keep running during the knee surgery updating the data in real time. Rio tracks the entire operation to ensure pinpoint accuracy throughout. The entire procedure is mapped before the first incision is made.
Rio, the robot, does the cutting to completely eliminate human error. The new knee is added once the “bad” parts of the knee are removed. The patient is stitched up and after a few hours of recovery the patient is already well underway with the aid of a physical therapist. One man in an Indiana hospital was walking around on his new knee with a cane after 6 hours.
Physicians believe the addition of the robotic surgeon will revolutionize knee surgery in future years. Patients receiving the procedure don’t even need general anesthesia; an epidural is enough to dull pain throughout the surgery. Patients who are looking for quick pain relief are optimistic that knee replacement surgery recovery will be greatly reduced because of the robo-doctors.
More traditional knee replacement surgery recovery periods may range from several weeks to many months, with a long period of physical therapy. However that physical therapy can be complemented by the LEGTUTOR which can complement the new surgery technique.
The LEGTUTOR system is a key component of physical therapy after total knee replacement. The LEGTUTOR is an ergonomic wearable leg brace accompanied with dedicated rehabilitation software. The LEGTUTOR rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. This means that the LEGTUTOR system allows the physical therapist to prescribe a leg rehabilitation program customized to the patient’s knee and hip movement ability at their stage of rehabilitation. The LEGTUTOR uses biofeedback to keep the patient motivated to do the exercise practice with the exercises designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of other neurological and orthopedic injury and disease as well as post trauma and orthopedic surgery.
The LEGTUTOR is also used by physical and occupational therapists in combination with the HANDTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR for upper and lower extremity rehabilitation. The TUTOR system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. It is designed for children and adults and can be used at home supported by telerehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

Shoulder Therapy for Athletes Enhanced By ArmTutor

The conclusion of a study by Dr. Thomas Stein et al which was published in the November 2011 issue of ”The American Journal of Sports Medicine” stated that athletes’ shoulder stabilization usually results in prolonged rehabilitation depending on the functional demand of the performed shoulder-dependent sport, according to the specific shoulder sport score systems.
The ARMTUTOR system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the shoulder as well as the elbow and wrist or upper extremity. The TUTOR system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated physical rehabilitation software. It allows for interactive rehabilitation exercise and a range of biomechanical evaluations which include speed, passive and active range of motion and a motion analysis of the upper extremity. This quantitative data allows physical and occupational therapists (OT) (PT) to customize the right exercise parameters according to the patient’s movement ability and then report on the patient’s exercise progress. The ARMTUTOR rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled and repetitive exercise practice by using various games which are set at a patient customized level and with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The rehabilitation games are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease such as Parkinson’s, CP, MS, Brain and Spinal cord injuries and others..
The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise at a customized difficulty level. This level is set by the OT or PT and encourages the patient to do intensive repetitive exercise practice.
The ARMTUTOR allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Overall. controlled exercise of multijoints within a normal movement pattern will prevent the patient developing an undesired and compensatory joint movement pattern and this will ensure better performance of functional tasks.
The Arm Tutor and its sister devices (LEGTUTOR, HANDTUTOR, 3DTUTOR) are used wordwide in hospitals and clinics. They can also be used at home through telerehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information….

Physiotherapy That Includes the ArmTutor Improves Chances of Recovery

In an article in ORTHOPEDICS AND TRAUMA Dec. 2011 Drs. Adam Rumian,Duncan Coffey,Simon Fogerty and Roger Hackney discuss shoulder dislocation.
The shoulder is known to be the most frequently dislocated joint in the human body. In order to relieve pain and reduce the risk of complications it is necessary to promptly reduce the dislocation which should be performed as soon as possible in the emergency department but, in the case of a fracture, in the operating theatre. Non-surgical treatment is the conventional method of management after a successful closed reduction. It involves immobilization of the affected shoulder for up to 6 weeks in conjunction with, or followed by, physiotherapy. Primary arthroscopic stabilization significantly reduces the rate of recurrent instability at young ages.
The ARMTUTOR system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ARMTUTOR rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. So early in recovery from shoulder surgery the occupational and physical therapist will work on improving range of motion and accuracy and speed of movements as well as muscle strength. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injuries and disease.
The TUTOR system, which includes the HANDTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR, is currently in use in leading U.S. and foreign hospitals and clinics. The TUTOR system is fully certified by the FDA and CE and can be used by children as well as adults.
See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

ArmTutor May Be Just the Right Therapy Tool to Help Tyler

Tyler Harrell, 7, will have surgery to repair nerve damage to his arm on January 7.
Unable to dress or bathe himself Tyler wears a brace around his upper body and left shoulder in order to keep his shoulder in place. He wears braces on his legs to keep him stable enough to walk.
Despite doctors’ predictions four years ago that he would never lead a normal life Tyler has a chance to do so.
Tyler has a chance to regain some independence through a muscle transfer surgery by a specialist in Houston, Texas.
On July 14, 2007, Tyler and his family were traveling home from Lake Eufaula. The family’s car lost control after the boat it was hauling fish-tailed. The vehicle flipped at least several times.
Tyler wasn’t breathing when his father found him.
Tyler spent two weeks at Southeast Alabama Medical Center in Dothan, Ala. before he was transferred to Children’s Scottish Rite Hospital in Atlanta, Ga. He was in a coma for four months.
The family was told Tyler would be a vegetable due to the traumatic brain injury he sustained, however he slowly came out of the coma. Still, they were told Tyler would likely never walk or have a normal life.
He was like a backwards seat, his little body was so twisted.
The brain injury damaged the nerves that control his arms and legs and his left arm was left unusable. At 4 he had his first surgery – a tendon transfer operation which gave Tyler use of his left hand and feeling in the arm, but without the use of the arm.
There is hope that Tyler can regain use of his left arm with the muscle transfer surgery at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital in Texas. A specialist with the Texas Nerve and Paralysis Institute will perform the surgery.
Despite the January surgery there may be other surgeries necessary to repair Tyler’s right arm, which is bent at the elbow.
Botox injections are needed every 3 months to relax his tensed muscles just so he can walk.Therapy has been helpful to Tyler.
When Tyler begins to use the ARMTUTOR he will not only enjoy its use but will be able to make progress in using his affected limbs.
The ARMTUTOR system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the shoulder and elbow and wrist or upper extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated physical rehabilitation software. The ARMTUTOR system allows for interactive rehabilitation exercise and a range of biomechanical evaluations including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. This quantitative data allows Physical and occupational therapists (OT) (PT) to customize the right exercise parameters to the patients movement ability and report on the patients exercise progress. The ARMTUTOR rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled and repetitive exercise rehabilitation practice through the use of various games which are at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The rehabilitation games are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and diseases.
The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise at a customized difficulty level. This level is set by the occupational or physical therapist and encourages the patient to do intensive repetitive exercise practice.
The ARMTUTOR allows for isolated and/or a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatments. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Overall. controlled exercise of multijoints within a normal movement pattern will prevent the patient developing an undesired and compensatory joint movement pattern and this will ensure better performance of functional tasks.
The Arm Tutor and its sister devices (LEGTUTOR, HANDTUTOR, 3DTUTOR) are used wordwide in hospitals and clinics. They can be used at home through telerehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information….

ArmTutor Maximizes Recovery After Boxer’s Surgery

Even though it was said that Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira wouldn’t require surgery for a broken arm which he suffered against Frank Mir at UFC 140, he has since undergone surgery to repair the injury and could return to the UFC in as soon as six months.
Mr. Nogueira suffered a complex fracture of his right humerus. Unfortunately, the radial nerve (a power and sensation nerve leading to the hand) was injured by the event. The nerve was in the area of the fracture and the bone was pinching the nerve. He little strength in his hand and no strength in his thumb before the surgery.
The surgery involved taking out the nerve and then the fracture site was treated. The fracture was fixed with a plate and 16 screws and within less than 12 hours the function returned to his hand and the bone was fixed. The doctors said that they were anticipating initiating range of motion exercises immediately and will start strengthening the arm in the next month. If everything goes well he will begin full training in the next several months and should be 100% ready for competition fighting in about six months or less. We anticipate a complete recovery.
The ARMTUTOR system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the shoulder, elbow, wrist or upper extremity. The system includes an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated physical rehabilitation software. The ARMTUTOR system provides interactive rehabilitation exercises and a range of biomechanical evaluations including speed, passive and active range of motion as well as motion analysis of the upper extremity.
This quantitative data allows physical and occupational therapists (PT) (OT) to customize the right exercise parameters to the patients movement ability and report on the patients exercise progress. The ARMTUTOR rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled and repetitive exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level together with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The rehabilitation games are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.
The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise at a customized difficulty level. This level is set by the OT or PT and encourages the patient to do intensive repetitive exercise practice.
The ARMTUTOR allows for isolated as well as a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatments. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and also precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Overall. controlled exercise of multijoints within a normal movement pattern will prevent the patient from developing an undesired and compensatory joint movement pattern and this will ensure better performance of functional tasks.
The ARMTUTOR and its sister devices (LEGTUTOR, HANDTUTOR, 3DTUTOR are used wordwide in hospitals and clinics. They can be used at home through telerehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information

Increasing Numbers of Patients With Life Altering Events Can be Helped by the Tutor System

Many hundreds of thousands of patients recovering from life-altering events which includes strokes ( 700,000 Americans annually), heart attacks (1.1 million a year), sports injuries and car crashes endure some form of physical therapy. Other patients benefit from physical therapy for pain relief, balance problems, joint problems, arthritis, post-surgical conditioning and strengthening, fitness, training, and wellness. More patients receive therapy after Brain/Spinal cord, Radial and Ulnar nerve and Brachial Plexus Injuries. Still more benefit from physical therapy who have Parkinson’s disease, CP and MS.
Most therapies demand tremendous effort from the patient. Often, patients are attempting to relearn simple tasks such as walking, dressing and feeding oneself. Skills, once taken for granted, now seem very difficult.
The newly developed HANDTUTOR and its sister devices (ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, 3DTUTOR) have become a key system in neuromuscular rehabilitation and physical therapy for interactive rehabilitation exercise. These innovative devices implement an impairment based program with augmented feedback and encourage motor learning through intensive active exercises. These exercises are challenging and motivating and allow for repetitive training tailored to the patient’s performance. This training is tailored and customized by the occupational and physical therapist to ensure that the patient stays motivated to do intensive repetitive manual therapy and exercise practice. The HANDTUTOR, LEGTUTOR, ARMTUTOR and 3DTUTOR is now part of the rehabilitation program of leading U.S. and foreign hospitals with the TUTORS being used in clinics and in their home. Home care patients can be supported by the occupational and physical therapist offering tele-rehabilitation. See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM for more information.

Tutor System Becoming Increasingly Important in Brain Injury Rehabilitation

As reported in MED PAGE TODAY the tragic toll from traumatic brain injury continues to climb among athletes who routinely hit their heads — or use them as weapons — during play on the field or fights on the rink.
All the more reason to have the best methods to assist the athletes to recover their normal mobility. Doing that requires having the best equipment.
The newly developed HandTutor and its sister devices (ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) have become a key system in neuromuscular rehabilitation and physical therapy for interactive rehabilitation exercise. These innovative devices implement an impairment based program with augmented feedback and encourage motor learning through intensive active exercises. These exercises are challenging and motivating and allow for repetitive training tailored to the patient‘s performance. This training is tailored and customized by the occupational and physical therapist to ensure that the patient stays motivated to do intensive repetitive manual therapy and exercise practice. The HandTutor, LegTutor, ArmTutor and 3DTutor is now part of the rehabilitation program of leading U.S. and foreign hospitals with the Tutors being used in clinics and in home care. Home care patients can be supported by the occupational and physical therapist offering tele-rehabilitation. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Rehabilitation Center That Includes the Tutor System Successful

Robert Guttersohn writing for vindy.com on December 24, 2011 tells about when Walt Sokac was a high school athlete the trainer assigned to his team was a fellow student who only knew how to tape ankles after an injury.
Sokac is now the director of rehabilitation for the Sharon Regional Health System out of Pennsylvania, where technology maps the recovery of athletes from injury and their return to the court or field.
But for many of the nearby valleys’ high-school, college and free-time athletes, the injury road ends in Hubbard at the health system’s Diagnostic and Specialty Center.
“It’s kind of a nonclinical atmosphere,” according to Ed Newmeyer, the director of marketing and community relations, during a recent visit to the Hubbard facility.
The center features digital X-rays, cardiac stress tests and ultrasound testing. But the most important aspect is a sports rehabilitation center.
It also has an artificial-turf field with football-field lines painted on it. It also has a half basketball court and hoop.
Of course a good rehabilitation center will feature the top tools and methods to restore normal mobility to athlete’s injured limbs.
Such devices will feature the Tutor system. The HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor have been designed to optimize sensory and cognitive performance to allow the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks and improve their quality of life.
For example the ArmTutor™ and HandTutor system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity including the shoulder, elbow and wrist. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable glove and arm brace together with dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ and HandTutor system allow the physical and occupational therapist to report on and evaluate the patients functional rehabilitation progress. This allows the OT and PT to prescribe the right customized and motivating intensive exercise practice which is the cornerstone to manual rehabilitation therapy. Intensive repetition of movement is achieved through challenging games set to the patients movement ability. The Tutor system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks. Telerehabilitation allows the recovering patient to continue his physical therapy at home.See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

LegTutor Complements Aquatic Therapy for Knee and Hip Replacement Patients

Nancy Walsh, Staff Writer for MedPage Today writes in an article on December 22, 2011 which is reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of MedicineHarvard Medical School, Boston and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner.
Aquatic therapy leads to better physical function in patients having total knee replacement, although it is not beneficial in patients undergoing hip arthroplasty, according to a German study.
Aquatic therapy is popular in Europe for patients undergoing joint replacement. It is thought to help patients regain balance and muscle strength.
The researchers noted that many factors can influence the quality of life following joint replacement, including patient age and sex none of which can be altered by caregivers.
Therefore, this is one of the few studies demonstrating a clinically important effect on the health-related quality of life by a factor that can be influenced by healthcare professionals.
Many patients are less than satisfied with the results after knee replacement allowing for further benefit with aquatic rehabilitation.
Further research is warranted to identify the optimal time frame for the start of aquatic therapy in order to exploit the potential of aquatic therapy for improving clinical outcome.
For hip replacement early aquatic therapy should be avoided.
In addition, the study did not compare early or late aquatic therapy with no aquatic therapy, because in Germany patients expect this during rehabilitation after joint replacement.
The LegTutor has been developed to facilitate evaluation and treatment of the lower extremity including isolated and combined hip and knee movements.
The LegTutor is actually an ergonomic wearable leg brace connected to dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time and accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. This means that the LegTutor™ system allows the physical therapist to prescribe a leg rehabilitation program customized to the patient’s knee and hip movement ability at their stage of rehabilitation. The LegTutor uses biofeedback to keep the patient motivated to do the exercise practice with the exercises designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of other neurological and orthopedic injury and disease as well as post trauma and orthopedic surgery. The LegTutor™ and its co devices (HandTutor, ArmTutor, 3DTutor) is also used by physical and occupational therapists for upper and lower extremity rehabilitation. The Tutor system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. It is designed for children and adults and can be used at home supported by telerehabilitation. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Tutor System Able to Motivate Parkinson’s Patients in Physical Therapy

Drs. Elan D. Louis, Edward D. Huey, Marina Gerbin and Amanda S. Viner published the following online 19 Dec. 2011
Apathy defined as decreased goal-directed activity has been observed in Parkinson’s disease. A number of cognitive and psychiatric features have been documented in essential tremor, yet there are few, if any, studies of apathy.
Using the Apathy Evaluation Scale the results showed that Parkinson’s disease cases had the highest scores. Analyses stratified by presence/absence of depressive symptoms indicated the presence of a group of apathetic but nondepressed cases.
The Conclusions drawn were that patients with Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor, and dystonia had elevated apathy scores. Features of apathy seemed to occur in these conditions independent of depressive symptoms. The basis for the apparent increased features of apathy deserves further study.
The design of the Tutor system allows the patient to be more motivated by its use because of the specific features built in to it. Since the patient himself, rather than an external force, has to accomplish tasks and since those tasks are designed as games there is a greater chance that the patient will be less apathetic overall.
When Parkinson’s disease, TBI, SCI or any other upper or lower limb injury/surgery occurs and recovery is progressing the Tutor system (HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. The system is indicated for patients in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The rehabilitation system optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

LegTutor Aids Physical Therapy for New Knee Replacement System.

As reported by JAMES ROH in the Daily Herald on December 21, 2011
The only doctor in Utah that performs knee resurfacing surgery is Dr. Kirt Kimball. The new procedure gives patients the same results as a knee replacement but it utilizes customized pieces so that it minimizes bone and tendon loss during surgery.
“It is similar in that the same metal, the same plastic, and the bonding method is the same. Kimball said. “It is also the same in terms of the incision and (surgical) exposure, as well as the terms of the recovery protocol.
But he says the difference of the two procedures is what makes the difference for the patient. Knee resurfacing preserves more bone than a standard knee replacement and the PCL is left intact. Kimball says the most important thing is how the new replacement is designed.
The knee first goes through a CT scan, and those images are then sent to a lab in Boston. Now a new custom knee replacement and surgical tools are created for each patient.
“Everyone is a little different,” Kimball said. “Instead of putting in a generic shape and size that has a pretty good track record, we are trying to restore your knee rather than replace it with somebody else’s design. So you end up with a component that looks similar to your old knee.”
Kay Gardner has had both knees replaced; one using the standard method, while the other using the new procedure. He said with the new method his recovery has been faster.
“We think that since it looks like a more normal knee and is shaped like a more normal knee, maybe it will then feel more like a normal knee,” Kimball said. “Patients seem to heal faster and get their motion back sooner because if the replacement is shaped like the knee you have been living with previously it should move like that.”
When physical therapy begins The LegTutor aids in returning normal function to the affected limb.
The LegTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable leg brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the lower extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The LegTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The LegTutor™ system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information. .

Tutor System Developed for Children Recovering From TBI

Dec 16 2011
Treating kids with traumatic brain injuries
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 50,000 people in the U.S die each year from TBI and 85,000 people suffer long term disabilities. In the U.S more than 5.3 million people live with disabilities caused by TBI. There are many different kinds of treatment for TBI patients such as: the initial treatment that stabilizes an individual immediately following a traumatic brain injury; Rehabilitative Care Center Treatment to help restore patient to daily life; Acute Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury is aimed a minimizing secondary injury and life support; and surgical treatment that may be used to prevent secondary injury by helping to maintain blood flow and oxygen to the brain and minimize swelling and pressure.
There are many causes of TBI. The top three are car accident, firearms and falls. Young adults and the elderly are the groups at higher risks of TBI. The mechanisms that are the highest cause of brain injury are: open head injury, closed head injury, deceleration injuries, chemical/toxic, hypoxia, tumors, infections and stroke. An open head injury results from something such as a bullet wound in which there is penetration of the skull. A closed head injury results from something such as a slip and fall or motor vehicle accident where the effects tend to be broad. Deceleration occurs when the brain is slammed back and forth in the skull because of its gelatinous consistency; causing even the nerve cells to stretch and compress where if it stretches enough the nerve cells can tear. Certain chemicals and toxins can also damage neurons, such as insecticides, lead poisoning and solvents. Hypoxia is lack of oxygen and can be caused by respiratory failure, heart attacks, drops in blood pressure; this can cause severe cognitive and memory deficits. (www.traumaticbraininjury.com)
TBI is classified into two categories: mild and severe. A brain injury can be classified as mild if loss of consciousness and/or confusion and disorientation is shorter than 30 minutes. While MRI and CAT scans are normal the individual has cognitive problems such as headache, difficulty thinking, memory problems, attention deficits, mood swings and frustration.
Severe brain injury is associated with loss of consciousness for more than 30 minutes and memory loss after the injury or penetrating skull injury longer than 24 hours. The deficits range from impairment of higher level cognitive functions to comatose states. Survivors may have limited function of arms or legs, abnormal speech or language, loss of thinking ability or emotional problems. The range of injuries and degree of recovery is very variable and varies on an individual basis.
Dr. Jose Pineda, Pediatrician, Director of Neurocritical Care, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, Washington University, talks about a new approach to teach kids with traumatic brain injury.
Dr. Pineda says that traumatic brain injury is the number one cause of death and disability in children. Every day it kills more children than cancer or any other disease. As a matter of fact TBI kills more children than all other top ten diseases put together. So it’s a real problem. Not only is it very common, but also the brain is very complex. We don’t even understand how it functions fully. So when it’s injured it’s very difficult to treat it. We have made a lot of progress in the past few years but we have a lot of challenges.
Dr. Pineda says additionally that we are very excited we started this quest about five years ago. I was recruited to St. Louis to tackle this new challenge and say okay, every kid is doing better with heart disease, with cancer and all that — let’s do something about brain injury. I took on that quest, and we have observed over the past five years a seventy percent decrease in mortality in children with severe traumatic brain injury. We also observed an improvement in outcome on those children who survived. And that’s very important with brain injury. The fear always is you do something that decreases the number of children who die but increases the number of children who survive in bad shape. The good news is as it has happened in the past with previous leaps in improving recovery children go from, “I was going to die” to “I do great.” They skip the middle and that is exactly what we have seen. So we have seen a seventy percent decrease in mortality matched to an improvement in the outcome of survivors. To give you an idea, and this is scientific, it will take us time to explain it in a way that we can demonstrate scientifically what we are saying. It’s important to be able to say, for example, that since 2008 every child with severe traumatic brain injury treated here has gone home except for one child. And it didn’t used to be like that many of them had to go to extended care facilities, and that’s disappearing too. So in summary, yes, we have seen a seventy percent decrease in mortality with children with severe traumatic brain injury in the past five years with the implementation of the neurocritical care program here at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. And not only that, that seventy percent decrease in mortality is linked to improvement in function in those children who survived. The vast majority of them are now going home.
The HandTutor, ArmTutor, Leg Tutor and 3d Tutor have been developed to teach children how to reuse their joints after a brain or spinal cord injury. The unique and successful devices use a dedicated software that utilizes games to enhance and improve their movement.
When TBI occurs and recovery is progressing the Tutor system (HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. The system is indicated for patients, both children and adults, in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The rehabilitation system optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

LegTutor Preferred Method in Stroke Rehabilitation for Incomplete Paralysis

Todd Neale writing for MedPage Today on December 16, 2011 and has the article reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston discusses the following:
For patients who are unable to walk following a stroke, robot-assisted gait training results in greater long-term gains in mobility than conventional therapy for those with the most severe deficits, researchers found.
In a small randomized trial, the robot-assisted therapy was better at improving walking capacity through two years, but only among those with high motor impairment, according to Giovanni Morone, MD, of the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, and colleagues.
There were still no significant differences between the robot-assisted and conventional therapy groups among patients with low motor impairment at baseline.
The findings are concordant with previous studies, which have shown the effectiveness of robot-assisted walking training in nonambulant patients but not in patients who maintained some walking ability, as in the LEAPS trial.
The LegTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity for stroke patients if they have incomplete paralysis. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable leg brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the lower extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The LegTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The LegTutor™ system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide for physical rehabilitation following stroke, brain/spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, MS,CP and other upper and lower limb disabilities and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information..

ArmTutor Maximizes Success of Football Player’s Injured Arm

As published in the Washington Post on December 14 Peyton Manning has some are good news for the NFL’s only winless team: His ramped-up rehabilitation program includes more throwing.
Coach Jim Caldwell said Wednesday that Manning has picked up his regimen, though the four-time league MVP was not scheduled to practice with his teammates Wednesday. It’s still unclear when or if Manning will return to the practice field and what the repertoire includes, though he acknowledged two weeks ago that throwing more was the next step in his recovery.
Manning hasn’t played in any games this season because of a nerve injury that caused weakness in his throwing arm.
He had surgery in May, and when that didn’t alleviate the problem, Indy’s franchise quarterback had a more invasive surgery, a single-level fusion, on Sept. 8. It was Manning’s third neck surgery in 19 months.
The ArmTutor has been successful in rehabilitation therapy for recovering athletes as well as for those recuperating from stroke, CP, MS, brain/spinal cord/Brachial Plexus injuries and various upper and lower extremity surgeries.
The ArmTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The ArmTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The ArmTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The ArmTutor™ system together with its sister devices (HandTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.
.

Gait Training Vastly Improved With the LegTutor

In the December edition of the Journal of Neuro Engineering and Rehabilitation produced by Biomed Central Open Access, publisher, Doctors of physical therapy and occupational therapy (from Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, Department of Neurorehabilitation Engineering Göttingen Germany and Graz University of Technology, Austria) present a review of the techniques and therapies used in gait rehabilitation after stroke.The group also looked at the benefits of including assistive robotic devices that work through a top-down approach. A top down approach is when rehabilitation is driven by neural plasticity.The primary goals of people with stroke include being able to walk independently and to perform daily activities. With this in mind rehabilitation programs for stroke patients mainly focus on gait training, at least for sub-acute patients. At present, gait rehabilitation is largely based on physical therapy and the robotic approach is less widely used. The traditional approach consists of the physical therapist correcting the patients gait and direct manipulation of the lower extremities position during gait. This gait training is done over a regular surface followed by assisted walking practice over simulated ground.
Motor learning approaches stress active patient involvement with the training preferably being given in the patient’s own environment
The article concludes that conventional gait training doesn’t restore a normal gait pattern in the majority of stroke patients. Therefore, high technology training devices including augmented motion feedback wearable devices as well as robotic devices are increasingly being used by many rehabilitation centres and clinicians. These new devices provide a means to ensure safe, intensive walking as well as isolated movement practice.
The newly developed LegTutor and 3DTutor have shown great success in improving gait/walking ability for stroke victims.
The LegTutor™ system (which also includes the HandTutor, ArmTutor and 3DTutor) has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable leg brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the lower extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The LegTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The 3DTutor™ is a motion feedback device that can be positioned on various parts of the body and works in conjunction with the other Tutors. For example, the 3DTutor™ provides motion feedback on the supination and pronation position of the forearm and the trunk movement position when positioned on the forearm and the trunk. When combined with the ArmTutor™ and the HandTutor™ the 3DTutor™ allows the Tutor system to evaluate and treat the whole upper extremity by providing multijoint virtual functional task exercises of the arm and feedback on the patient’s trunk position. When combined with the LegTutor™ and positioned on the ankle, the 3DTutor™ contributes to the complete lower extremity multijoint evaluation and virtual functional task exercises of the hip, knee and ankle. The Tutor system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Tutor System Expertise Available through Telerehabilitation

Telerehabilitation is the delivery of rehabilitation services from a distance using telecommunication technology, ranging from the telephone to more complex systems involving the Internet and videoconferencing equipment. Services may include consultation, mentoring, education, support, treatment monitoring, functional assessment, and/or therapy. Telerehabilitation has been proposed as a means to provide access to rehabilitation services for stroke survivors who have residual functional impairments at discharge from inpatient care when travel to outpatient rehabilitation facilities is hindered by cost, distance, or cognitive or mobility issues. The goal of telerehabilitation is to improve patient function and reduce long-term disability and associated healthcare costs.
Aside from the newly developed Tutor system being used in leading U.S. and foreign hospitals and clinics the technology has also been developed to allow patients avail themselves of the devices through the use of telerehabilitation.
The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The Tutor system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The rehabilitation system optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. All of this is available at the home of the patient through telerehabilitation.
The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Tutor System Integral Part of Recovery towards an Active Lifestyle.

In an article dated 6 December 2011 in PEDIATRIC RESEARCH, C F J Nooijen etal from The Netherlands stated:
”A more active lifestyle in persons with a recent spinal cord injury benefits physical fitness and health”
A study was conducted to establish the longitudinal relationship between objectively measured everyday physical activity level, and physical fitness and lipid profile in persons with a recent spinal cord injury (SCI).
The conclusion drawn was that everyday physical activity seems to have an important role in the fitness and health of persons with a recent SCI. An increase in physical activity level was associated with an increase in physical fitness and with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
The Tutor system, now being used in leading U.S. and foreign hospitals and clinics, concentrates on intensive active exercises in SCI therapy rehabilitation.
When SCI, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, CP, MS and TBI occurs and recovery is progressing the Tutor system (HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. The system is indicated for patients in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The Tutor system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The rehabilitation system optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

LegTutor Accelerates Mobility in Lower Extremity Surgical Therapy

Achilles tendon rupture is a much-debated subject. In recent years, there has been much interest in early postoperative mobilization. The LegTutor has been developed to maximize improvement in mobility following foot and all other kinds of lower limb surgery during rehabilitation therapy.
The LegTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the lower extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable leg brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The LegTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the lower extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The LegTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The LegTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of knee and three directional hip treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multi joints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The LegTutor™ system, which includes the HandTutor, ArmTutor and 3DTutor, is used by many leading rehabilitation .centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Tutor System Assists Drop Foot Patients

As reported in the Sacramento Bee on December 12, 2011
There is new hope for children with a form of lower leg paralysis known as “foot drop” due to cerebral palsy (CP). Foot drop is a condition of weakness or motor control that interferes with a person’s ability to flex the ankle, lift the foot, and walk with a normal heel-toe pattern. In many cases, the toes touch the ground before the heel, which can affect walking stability on that leg. Also, when children swing the leg forward to take a step, the toes can catch or drag on the ground, causing them to stumble and trip. Typically, children are prescribed a rigid plastic L-shaped brace called an ankle-foot-orthosis (AFO) that secures the ankle and foot in one stable position. While the AFO braces the foot, it provides only passive control, not movement; it is bulky and often requires a larger different size shoe to be worn to accommodate the foot with the brace. Other disadvantages of AFOs are that they may be hot or uncomfortable to wear, may limit some function such as squatting or running, and are not cosmetically appealing to some children.
The 3DT Tutor will provide intensive isolated ankle exercise practice in patients that can not properly flex and extend their ankle during walking. Working on isolated extension and flexion exercises of the ankle will improve the patients motor and sensory movement ability so that footdrop can be improved when the patient undertakes normal walking. The 3DT Tutor can be combined with the LegTutor, used for knee and hip exercise practice. This will allow the patient to undertake hip, knee and ankle intensive exercise practice which will result in the patient achieving a more efficient walking pattern.
The LegTutor and 3DTutor are used after Stroke and traumatic brain and spinal cord injury as well as with Parkinsons and MS patients. The LegTutor and 3DTutor is also used following orthopedic injury and disease.
The Tutor system consists of the HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor. For more information go to www.HandTutor.com

Quality of Life Improved by the Tutor System

Ben Oudsten, etal writing for INGENTA CONNECT on November 2011 discuss a study of a Quality of Life issue regarding Parkinson’s disease patients.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Motor and non-motor symptoms have an impact on persons’ lives. To what extent this is effecting persons’ quality of life (QOL) is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study was to identify factors that persons perceive as eminently important for QOL.
This study demonstrated that focus groups are a valid and reliable way of eliciting views on QOL from persons with PD, caregivers and professionals. The focus group method confirmed the original WHOQOL parameters and also provided some new QOL themes. In addition, the results of this study pointed out that the impact of PD on QOL goes beyond the physical, social and emotional domains of health-related QOL (HRQOL).
The Tutor system devices are designed to improve quality of life for PD patients as well as for those recovering from stroke, upper and lower limb surgeries, brain and spinal cord injuries and many other disabilities. The Tutor system achieves a return to normal mobility of affected limbs.
The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. The system is indicated for patients in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The system (HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The rehabilitation system optimizes the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Constraint Induced Movement Therapy Aided by ArmTutor

Linda Nordstrand, Mominul Islam, Ann-Christin Eliasson of the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden discuss CIMT.
Adolescents with unilateral cerebral palsy are known to have improved hand function immediately after an intensive period of Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CIMT), but the long-time effect of CIMT on development of hand function is not well known.
The aim of their research is to follow-up and describe the development of hand function in adolescents with unilateral cerebral palsy, who had only one episode of CIMT within a six year period.
The result of their research was that the assessment measuring the use and dexterity were stable and the grip strength had increased, while there was a trend towards decreasing quality of movements.
The conclusion they reached was that the adolescents have continued to use their assisting hand, shown by stable hand use and increased grip strength even though the quality of movements seem to have decreased.
Constraint induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a unique treatment approach used for rehabilitation of the upper limb (arm/hand) following neurological damage. After a neurological event such as a stroke it is common for people to develop a tendency not to use their weaker arm which can lead to learned non-use or in some cases neglect of the weaker arm. CIMT aims to increase the amount of use and quality of movement of the weaker arm by following a structured treatment program developed by researchers in the USA.
The treatment program works by producing ‘rewiring’ of the brain; this means that a larger part of the brain becomes active when producing movement of the weaker arm. This program is underpinned by several research studies which have proven benefits, particularly for stroke patients.
The program involves a number of components in particular the use of repetitive task-oriented training. This involves the person practicing a series of short tasks with the weaker arm for several hours a day over a two to three week period under supervision by a trained therapist. Whilst using the weaker arm the unaffected side is restrained, for example by wearing a mitt or glove to continually remind the person to use the weaker arm.
The person is encouraged to use the weaker arm outside of the treatment program for functional tasks at home whilst wearing the glove or mitt and is provided with a series of home assignments to complete. Research has proven that such intensive and repetitive use of the weaker arm over this short period leads to increased use of the weaker arm as well as improved quality of movement.
The HandTutor has been in the forefront of therapy tools for CIMT in rehabilitation.
The HandTutor™ system, which includes the ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor, is an active exercise based hand rehabilitation program that uses the accepted methods of impairment oriented training (IOT) with augmented feedback. The HandTutor™ evaluates and treats finger and hand movement dysfunction through exercises that encourage extension/ flexion of the finger(s) and wrist.
The HandTutor™ system consists of a safe comfortable glove, with position and speed sensors that precisely record finger and wrist motion, and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ergonomic gloves come in five sizes for both right and left hands. The rehabilitation system employs the known concept of biofeedback to give occupational and physical therapists access to an affordable user friendly hand rehabilitation package. The HandTutor™ can also be used in combination with the 3DTutor™ for arm rehabilitation. The HandTutor™ is CE medical and FDA certified. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Shoulder Rehabilitation Maximized by ArmTutor

Thomas Stein, MD, PhD, Department of Sporttraumatology, Berufsgenossenschaftliche Unfallklinik Frankfurt am Main, Friedberger Landstraße 430, 60389 Frankfurt am Main, Germany conducted research concerning post shoulder surgery.
The background of the study cponcerns reports of return to shoulder-dependent sport after surgical stabilization previously underestimated impairments, which were not reflected in the score systems used.The hypothesis he used was that a return to shoulder-dependent sport depends on the type of sport performed.
The conclusion he reached was that the athletes’ shoulder stabilization resulted in prolonged rehabilitation depending on the functional demand of the performed shoulder-dependent sport, as shown by the specific shoulder sport score systems.
The ArmTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity in cluding the shoulder. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The ArmTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The ArmTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The ArmTutor™ system together with its sister devices (HandTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.

Telerehabilitation Allows Tutors to Continue Treatment at Home

Dr. I. Cikajlo etal of the University Rehabilitation Institute , Ljubljana , Slovenia conducted a study about telerehabilitation.
The objective of telerehabilitation is a continuation of the rehabilitation process on patients’ home. The study also compares the balance training in clinical environment with the telerehabilitation approach when the physiotherapists and physicians can follow the progress remotely. The conclusions of the study were that the telerehabilitation approach in Virtual Reality supported balance training improved balance in stroke patients and had a similar effect on patients’ postural functional improvement to conventional balance training in clinical settings. However, when balance training is continued in the patient’s home instead of the hospital, it would eventually decrease the number of outpatients‘ visits, reduce related costs and enable treatment of a larger number of patients.
The HandTutor and its sister devices (ArmTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) have been developed to optimize motor, sensory and cognitive performance for physical rehabilitation programs following a stroke, brain/spinal cord, Radial and Ulnar nerve and Brachial Plexus injuries with TELEREHABILITATION following hospital or clinic treatment.
The Tutor system consists of ergonomic wearable devices together with powerful dedicated rehabilitation software. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The Tutor system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. Controlled exercise practice will help to prevent the development of compensatory movement patterns. The dedicated software allows the therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition the therapist can objectively and quantitatively evaluate and report on the treatment progress. The Tutor rehabilitation system allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life. The Tutor system is FDA and CE certified. See www.HandTutor.com

ArmTutor and HandTutor Boost Success in Parkinson’s Rehabilitation

Drs. K. Felix, K. Gain, E. Paiva, etal of the Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada reported on 22 September 2011 in an article about the fact that ”Abstract Motor learning” has been found to occur in the rehabilitation of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Through repetitive structured practice of motor tasks, individuals show improved performance, confirming that motor learning has probably taken place. Although a number of studies have been completed evaluating motor learning in people with PD, the sample sizes were small and the improvements were variable. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the ability of people with PD to learn motor tasks. Studies which measured movement time in upper extremity reaching tasks and met the inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. Results of the meta-analysis indicated that people with PD and neurologically healthy controls both demonstrated motor learning, characterized by a decrease in movement time during upper extremity movements. Movement time improvements were greater in the control group than in individuals with PD. These results support the findings that the practice of upper extremity reaching tasks is beneficial in reducing movement time in persons with PD and has important implications for rehabilitation.
The HandTutor and ArmTutor have been developed specifically to improve the rehabilitation process for upper extremity mobility for Parkinson’s patients. The newly developed system together with their sister devices (LegTutor and 3DTutor) allow the patient to do intensive exercise practice that is customized to their movement ability.
The HandTutor™ system consists of a safe comfortable glove, with position and speed sensors that precisely record finger and wrist motion, and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ergonomic gloves come in five sizes for both right and left hands. The rehabilitation system employs the known concept of biofeedback to give occupational and physical therapists access to an affordable user friendly hand rehabilitation package. The HandTutor™ can also be used in combination with the 3DTutor™ for arm rehabilitation.
The ArmTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The ArmTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The ArmTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The Tutor™ system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. The Tutor system can also be used at home through telerehabilitation. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.
Drs. K. Felix, K. Gain, E. Paiva, etal of the Faculty of Health Sciences, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada reported on 22 September 2011 in an article about the fact that ”Abstract Motor learning” has been found to occur in the rehabilitation of individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Through repetitive structured practice of motor tasks, individuals show improved performance, confirming that motor learning has probably taken place. Although a number of studies have been completed evaluating motor learning in people with PD, the sample sizes were small and the improvements were variable. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the ability of people with PD to learn motor tasks. Studies which measured movement time in upper extremity reaching tasks and met the inclusion criteria were included in the analysis. Results of the meta-analysis indicated that people with PD and neurologically healthy controls both demonstrated motor learning, characterized by a decrease in movement time during upper extremity movements. Movement time improvements were greater in the control group than in individuals with PD. These results support the findings that the practice of upper extremity reaching tasks is beneficial in reducing movement time in persons with PD and has important implications for rehabilitation.
The HandTutor and ArmTutor have been developed specifically to improve the rehabilitation process for upper extremity mobility for Parkinson’s patients. The newly developed system allows the patient to do intensive exercise practice that is customized to their movement ability.
The HandTutor™ system consists of a safe comfortable glove, with position and speed sensors that precisely record finger and wrist motion, and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ergonomic gloves come in five sizes for both right and left hands. The rehabilitation system employs the known concept of biofeedback to give occupational and physical therapists access to an affordable user friendly hand rehabilitation package. The HandTutor™ can also be used in combination with the 3DTutor™ for arm rehabilitation.
The ArmTutor™ system has been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the upper extremity. The system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The ArmTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The ArmTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The Tutor™ system is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. The Tutor system can also be used at home through telerehabilitation. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.