3DTutor Assists in Drop Foot Therapy

Scientists in the Netherlands are using robotic legs to try to improve the movement of stroke patients.
The prototype device is called the Lower-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton, or LOPES, and works by training the body and mind of a patient to recover a more natural step.
The machine is also being tested on spinal injury patients who have recovered some restricted movement in their legs.
LOPES has been developed by engineers at the University of Twente in Enschede in the Netherlands over several years. Designed for the rehabilitation clinic, it is not a mobile device but supports the patient as they walk on a treadmill.
It can do all the walking for the patient, or it can offer targeted support in either one leg or with one element of the walking process. The machine can also detect what the patient is doing wrong.
Petra Hes is one of those testing the device. She suffered a stroke aged just 17. Years of physiotherapy have helped, but she still has what is known as a “drop foot”, which means she cannot lift and flex her left foot in the way she once did, or even remember how to do so.

The 3DTutor™ is a motion feedback device that can be helpful for ”drop foot” syndrome as well as other dysfunctions. It is positioned on various parts of the body. 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.