Parkinson’s Patients Show Improvement with the HandTutor

Dr. Jane E. Alty of the Department of Neurology, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK and Dr. Peter A. Kempster of the Department of Neurosciences, Monash Medical Centre and Department of Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia writing in the “Postgrad
Med Journal 2011 state that tremor is, by definition, a rhythmic oscillation of a body part. It is the most prevalent movement disorder in clinical medicine, so doctors working in many specialities and in general practice can expect to encounter it. Most tremors can be classified on the basis of four observable clinical characteristics: anatomical pattern; the relative prominence of the tremor at rest, on maintaining a posture, and with action; tremor frequency; and tremor amplitude. A resting tremor suggests Parkinson’s disease, and the diagnosis then depends on a judgement about whether the patient has other signs of parkinsonism. The most common causes of postural tremor are physiological tremor, essential tremor and drug-induced tremor. The differential diagnosis may also include dystonic tremor and psychogenic tremor, while metabolic tremor caused by thyrotoxicosis should be considered in any recent-onset postural tremor. Wilson’s disease and fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome are rarer conditions that may present with tremor and are very important to identify. There is a small but genuine diagnostic grey zone between Parkinson’s disease and more benign tremor disorders such as essential tremor and dystonic tremor, in which resting and postural tremor coexist with mild or equivocal non-tremor parkinsonian signs. The authors review clinical features and investigational techniques that may help to discriminate this group of hard-to-classify tremors.
The HandTutor and its sisters, the ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor, have been successful in treating Parkinson’s sufferers as well as those with brain and spinal cord injuries.
The HandTutor™ system 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 and is adaptable to children and adults and can be used in the patient’s home through telerehabilitation.