Tutor System Designed for Children Who Suffer from TBI

Writing for the Amarillo Globe News LANCE LAHNERT on October 13, 2011 reports that the fight for Vega junior football player Luis Morales to regain his ability to walk took flight Thursday.
Morales was flown Thursday from Amarillo to a Sacramento, Calif., hospital known for world-class research on spinal cord injuries so he can continue rehab for an injury suffered during a junior varsity football game Sept. 29 in Wheeler.
Morales, a running back, crashed into the Wheeler home stands at the end of a run.
The head-first crash left him without movement of his legs and arms, said Vega head football coach Phillip Wiggins.
“He was trying to regain his balance as he went out of bounds and ran head first into the home bleachers,” Wiggins said.
“The helmet did its job. But the helmet is not made to protect the neck.”
Morales spent 14 days at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo before taking Thursday’s flight to Shriners Hospital for Children — Northern California in Sacramento.
“I want to be respectful to the family in what I say,” Wiggins said, “but as I understand it, Luis did regain some movement in an arm before leaving for Sacramento. What great news. And what a great kid. Our prayers are with him and his family.”
The most recent information from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons shows 10 to 15 percent of high school athletes who participate in a contact sport suffer a concussion.
Statistics from the 2009 football season show nine brain injuries that resulted in incomplete recovery, and all nine were at the high school level, the association reported.
Children are included in the design of the newly developed Tutor System used in post TBI physiotherapy. There have been many advances in brain recovery and rehabilitation and one of the most effective methods to regain normal usage of the patient’s limbs and joints is the HandTutor, ArmTutor, LegTutor and 3DTutor.The Tutors allow the patient to do intensive exercise practice that is customized to their movement ability.
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. The system also includes objective quantitative evaluations that provide the therapist information to customize the most suitable rehabilitation program to the patient’s ability. Currently part of the rehabilitation program of leading U.S. and foreign hospitals the Tutors are also used in clinics and at home through the use of telerehabilitation. They are fully certified by the FDA and CE.