Motor Imagery a rehab method for PD patients

In the January edition of Neurorehabil Neural Repair January Dr. Helsen and her group form Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Tervuursevest 101, 3001 Heverlee, Belgium study the Motor Imagery Ability in Patients With Early- and Mid-Stage Parkinson Disease. The group found that this practice method can also be successfully applied in the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson disease (PD).
The HandTutor, ArmTutor and LegTutor system are used to encourage active exercise task practice in Parkinson's PD patients.

HandTutor system effective in upper extremity hemiparesis patients

In the February edition of Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair http://bit.ly/grWa4B Dr. Whitall and his group from School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center Geriatrics Research, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA and University Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland show that Bilateral arm training with rhythmic auditory cueing( BATRAC) is not superior to dose–matched therapeutic exercises (DMTE). However both rehabilitation programs durably improve motor function for individuals with chronic upper–extremity hemiparesis and with varied deficit severity.
The HandTutor system encourages upper extremity active exercise practice and has been proven effective in the treatment of chronic upper–extremity hemiparesis patients.

Long-term follow-up of botulinum toxin therapy for focal hand dystonia: Outcome at 10 years or more

In the February edition of Movement disorders http://bit.ly/dFTO4n Dr. Codrin Lungu and his team from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Boston USA report on a retrospective study to assess the efficacy and safety of botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) treatment for Focal hand dystonia (FHD). The group show that BoNT therapy for FHD remains safe and effective after more than a decade of treatment even though the dose of botulinum toxin needed to be increased.
An experienced occupational and physical therapist can reduce spasticity during patient treatments. When the patient has reduced tone they need to improve their level of sensory motor movement ability through intensive isolated and coordinated task practice. When the tone returns post treatment session the patient can continue doing functional tasks and maintain the improved movement ability. The HandTutor, ArmTutor and LegTutor systems allow the patient to do intensive active exercise practice during treatment sessions and have been shown to sustain patient functional improvement post intervention.

Effects of Exercise on Quality of Life in Stroke Survivors (HRQoL)

In the February edition of stroke http://bit.ly/i3MCI2 Dr. Ming-De Chen of Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Northwestern University, Chicago USA detail clinical trials that support the use of exercise to improve health related quality of life in stroke survivors. They conclude that the challenge for researchers is identifying effective strategies for sustaining these effects post intervention.
The HandTutor, ArmTutor and LegTutor are upper arm, hand - finger/s wrist and lower extremity rehabilitation systems indicated for patients in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and the home care environment. The home care patient can benefit from tele-rehabilitation. The HandTutor and other Tutor systems use dedicated rehabilitation software that employs motivating games that can be customized to the stage of rehabilitation and the patient’s movement dysfunction. The virtual functional tasks employed ensure that the patient undertakes intensive repetitive active exercise practice with the games being motivating and well tolerated. The HandTutor, ArmTutor and LegTutor systems have been shown to sustain patient functional improvement post intervention.