Tutor System Available by Telerehabilitation

As posted on 10/21/2011 by the University of California System: University of California, Irvine:
To regain movement and mobility after a stroke, stroke patients undergo intensive rehabilitative therapy with rehabilitation nurses and physical therapists. These rehabilitation sessions occur on an outpatient basis and typically average three days a week for several hours a day. Such sessions are expensive since it involves one-on-one therapy sessions between the patient and the therapist. It also may be inconvenient for a stroke patient to travel to the rehabilitation sessions, particularly given post-stroke disabilities or regional disparities in health resources. Furthermore, studies have shown that a larger dose of rehabilitation therapy can be beneficial for the stroke patient. A physician at the University of California, Irvine has developed a new telerehabilitation system including new software that may be used or supplemented in stroke patients’ rehabilitation therapy programs. This telerehabilitation system may be used at home and would cost significantly less than physical therapy and eliminate the patient’s commute to a therapy session.
Stroke patients as well as those who have had a TBI or Spinal cord injury can, when they are sufficiently recovered, avail themselves of the Tutor system through the use of telerehabilitation.
The HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor have been developed to allow for functional rehabilitation of the whole body including the upper and lower extremity. The system consists of ergonomic wearable devices and dedicated rehabilitation software that provide patient instructions and feedback to encourage intensive massed controlled exercise practice. The Tutor system allows for controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern which prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks. Additional features of the Tutor system include quantitative evaluation and objective follow up. The Tutors are FDA and CE certified.The new medical devices are available for children as well as adults.