Communicating With Your Physical Therapist

Because a stroke or heart attack may temporarily cause a patient to become bedridden or their movements might be monitored and extremely limited the use of video conferencing technology, telerehabilitation, is designed to revolutionize treatment methods that are used to care for those with limited mobility.
American Telemed explains that telerehabilitation uses complex software in conjunction with video conferencing technology to allow doctors and physical/occupational therapists to interact with their immobile patients on a more regular basis. Travel may not be needed as all treatment is done remotely. It can also allow 24-hour access to a medical professional. In addition, the practicing physician can accurately measure a patient’s progress and discover problematic issues in real-time.
The National Institute of Health, conducted a recent study recently where sixty-five participants received a six-week program of outpatient physical therapy either according to the traditional in-house approach or by means of a teleconference-based rehabilitation program. The goal was to measure specific progress indicators such as the timed “up-and-go” test, quadriceps muscle strength and pain intensity.
The results revealed that the telerehabilitation group was able to achieve outcomes comparable to, or slightly better than those of the conventional rehabilitation group. The alternative treatment was also extremely well received by the included participants, who reported a high level of satisfaction.
The recently developed TUTOR system by MEDITOUCH is one of the most efficient physical rehabilitation devices using telerehabilitation as a means of treating patients with a variety of disabilities.
Established in 2004, MediTouch Ltd. manufactures innovative telerehabilitationsystems featuring the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR that consist of wearable motion capture devices that work together with an interactive games platform and software for virtual physical therapy sessions from home. MediTouch rehabilitation rehabilitation systems allow patients to practice intensive functional rehabilitation systems allow patients to practice intensive functional task training to improve patient‘s lower and upper extremity movement ability.
Currently in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals and rehabilitation clinics the TUTOR devices are fully certified by the FDA and CE. See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.

Traumatic Brain Injury and its Treatment Cost

Traumatic brain injuries are the cause of a substantial number of deaths and permanent disabilities. Some of them are seen. Others are not. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that each year 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury; 52,000 people die while 275,000 are hospitalized. TBIs represent a third of all injury-related deaths in the United States. The numbers are rising fast, because we know more about sports injuries and because of our injured troops in wars. In March 2012, at a news conference about Brain Injury Awareness Month, the Pentagon put the number as high as 360,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who may have suffered brain injuries. Among them are up to 90,000 veterans whose symptoms still persist and require specialized care.
A TBI is caused by a blow, jolt, bump, or penetration to the head that disrupts normal functioning of the brain. The severity can range from ” a brief change in mental status” to ”extended unconsciousness” or amnesia after the injury. Even after “recovery” many survivors cannot return to what they used to do or find other work. The Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon calculated that a survivor of severe brain injury necessitates an expense of between $4.1 million and $9 million in lifetime care.
The TUTOR system of physical rehabilitation is one of the most COST EFFECTIVE medical devices to come on the market recently.
The HANDTUTOR, a glove, for hand therapy; the ARMTUTOR, an arm brace, for arm/shoulder therapy; the LEGTUTOR, a leg brace, and 3DTUTOR for leg/hip therapy are tools for intensive active exercises that have proven beneficial in traumatic brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation.
Intensive exercise practice has been proven to improve functional movement ability following orthopedic and neurological injury (including SCI and brain injury) as well as disease. Patient motivation and control of the exercise practice are the fundamental factors required for optimum functional recovery and prescribed by occupational and physical therapists. Traditional practice is mostly based on low technology tools that intrinsically lack features to challenge and motivate the patient to do intensive exercise training. This is why biofeedback and motion feedback are the tools of choice to give motivating and controlled manual therapy.
The TUTORs are currently in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals and clinics and are suitable for telerehabilitation.
See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.

Lack of Physical Rehabilitation Services on the African Continent

Imagine a CT scan costing a half month’s salary; an MRI costing a full month’s salary and an surgical procedure costing 52 month’s pay. Ridiculous? Well that’s what it can cost for those procedures in certain African countries. And then only if the equipment and technicians are available.
There are approximately 78 million disabled Africans who are unserved in Physical Medicine and rehabilitation services (PM&R). Mainly this is because there is inadequate manpower and equipment. Most of the health priorities of the African countries lie in issues such as Aids,TB, Malaria and ailments related to pregnancy and child birth.
The Red Cross says that policy reforms regarding the physically disabled are needed. They need help in accessing appropriate orthopaedic and rehabilitation services, an expert stated recently.
The chairperson of the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) Special Fund for the Disabled, Prof Claude Le Courte, raised the concern during the on-going 6th congress of the African Federation of Orthopaedic Technicians (FATO).
According to the statement, these reforms have to include changing the policies and delivery system, developing funding mechanisms, increasing human resources, expanding and decentralizing services and delivery, among others.
The World Report on Disability is recommending that all countries should develop a national strategy and/or policy for the delivery of adequate physical rehabilitation services.
She said the main problem facing people with disabilities in low income countries was the cost of rehabilitation services worsened by the cost of accessing the services. She therefore pledged ICRC’s full support to improve access to appropriate physical rehabilitation services for the disabled.
The WHO representative in Tanzania, Dr Rutaro Chatora, said besides the road carnage on Africa’s roads, the problem of disabilities on the continent has been worsened by many wars and civil strife in various countries.
According to a report, last year 43,000 people with disabilities from Africa attended and benefited from various services at ICRC-supported centers. They included provision of prostheses, orthoses, walking and wheelchairs, along with access to appropriate therapy allowing an optimal use of the devices.
One of the devices that can help in recovery of disabled limbs and which is non verbal and therefore usable by most of the African people is the TUTOR system. A relatively inexpensive device that can be purchased by the Red Cross or WHO and delivered to all the rehabilitation centers.
Occupational and physical therapists use the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR – known as the TUTOR system as a manual therapy tool to help them with their rehabilitative work.
The TUTOR system has shown much success in rehabilitation of joint movement. The newly developed TUTORs consist of ergonomic wearable devices. The HANDTUTOR is a glove for hand therapy and the ARMTUTOR is an arm brace for elbow and shoulder rehabilitation. The LEGTUTOR is a leg brace for legs and hips. The system is indicated for patients who have suffered TBI, a stroke, SCI, CP, MS, Parkinson’s disease and other mobility restraining illnesses. It is used by occupational therapists and physiotherapists in rehabilitation centers, private clinics and private homes where it can be supported by telerehabilitation. It is designed for those who have head, trunk, upper and lower extremity movement dysfunction.
The accompanying software system consists of motivating and challenging games that allow the patient to practice isolated and/or interjoint coordination exercises. The dedicated rehabilitation software allows the physical and occupational therapist to fully customize the exercises to the patient’s movement ability. In addition, the OT and PT can make objective follow up and reports on their patient’s progress. Rehabilitation aims to optimize the patient’s motor, sensory and cognitive performance and allows the patient to better perform everyday functional tasks to improve their quality of life.
The TUTORS are certified by the FDA and CE. See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.

Telemedicine as a Solution for Post Stroke Physical Therapy

Whether it is called telerehabilitation, telemedicine, tele-physical therapy, tele-physiotherapy or tele-occupational therapy , these systems allow a therapist in a remote location to conduct treatment sessions, using a virtual-environment-based motor-training system, with a patient who is located at home. The system consists of a patient computer with motion-capture equipment and video camera, a therapist computer with video camera, and virtual-environment software that is synchronized over a high-speed Internet connection.
Home-based telerehabilitation interventions have show promising results in improving the health of stroke patients and in supporting caregivers. Telemedicine systems based on a virtual environment for upper extremity exercise can improve the physical health of stroke patients. Health professionals and participants reported high levels of satisfaction and acceptance of telerehabilitation interventions., During performance, the patient can see not only their movement but also the correct trajectory that they have to accomplish. The feedback derived from the patient’s action, its outcome, and feedback from the supervision of the physiotherapist can favour the acquisition of new motor abilities by the patient.
The TUTOR system of telerehabilitation is at the forefront of this recent innovation. Users are those patients who have suffered a stroke or other limb limiting injuries or disease and are not required to be hospitalized any longer or who need continuing therapy sessions and live too far away from clinics. The HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR have an impairment based rehabilitation program with powerful software and augmented feedback that encourages motor learning. The TUTOR s are medical devices that are part of the entire physical rehabilitation solution industry. These products have been created to allow the therapist, whether right there with the patient or at a remote location, to evaluate and objectively quantify and record the patient’s sessions. This allows for customization of the treatment program. The TUTOR process combined with traditional functional exercises speeds up functional recovery.
Now in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals the TUTOR system is fully certified by the FDA and CE., For more information go to WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL

Cognitive Impairment Solutions

On March 21, 2012 J. Andrew McClure, MSc etal from the Aging, Rehabilitation & Geriatric Care Research Centre, Lawson Health Research Institute, Parkwood Hospital , London, Ontario, Canada published a study as follows:
The Canadian Best Practice Recommendations for Stroke Care suggests that all stroke patients should be screened for cognitive impairment and those who have such impairment as shown on a screening test should receive additional assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine whether care in an Ontario inpatient stroke rehabilitation facility is consistent with these recommendations. The study included 123 patients. The conclusions that were reached were that although the majority of patients were screened for cognitive impairment while in inpatient rehabilitation, few patients were referred for a comprehensive diagnostic examination. Therefore it appears that specific cognitive deficits are likely underidentified in stroke rehabilitation patients in Ontario.
Since rehabilitation aims to optimize motor, sensory and cognitive performance so that the patient can perform everyday functional tasks and therefore improve his daily quality of life it is important that a tool be found to do so for stroke victims and those who suffer from other forms of debilitating illnesses and injuries.
One of the newest physical therapy solutions is the TUTOR system. Consisting of the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR, LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR these products improve daily living impairments through the use of intensive active exercises with augmented feedback. The exercises are challenging and motivating and allow for repetitive training to be tailored to the patient’s performance. The HANDTUTOR, for example, includes objective quantitative evaluations that provide a thorough documentation of patient performance and thereby allows the physical and occupational therapist to customize an apprppriate rehabilitation program for the patient.
Currently in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals and clinics the TUTOR system is FDA and CE certified.
See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.

Hi Tech Systems Available for Everyone

People that have disabilities are a group within society that could gain much from all the new technologies but somehow they have one of the lowest rates of usage of these technologies. Therefore benefits of using a computer and the internet are underused at best.
Actually one of the reasons for this phenomenon is that a large percentage of these disabled people are poor and therefore don’t have access to this equipment or its monthly maintenance charges. Unfortunately these people don’t understand how the internet and computers can give them a greater sense of independence and would allow them to integrate into society.
Some Internet service providers have come up with a solution and will provide a free computer for those that sign up for a long term subscription. In addition there are simpler user interfaces that are available to allow more comfortable usage of the technology. This is especially helpful to some elderly people. Of course a period of educating this segment of society to the possibilities is necessary before many of them begin to take advantage of the technology. Once that’s accomplished there will have to be training and support afforded to them.
Those that are disabled due to a stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease,upper or lower limb surgery and other disabling illnesses or injuries will find much needed help in one of the newest physical rehabilitation solutions available. The TUTOR system consisting of the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR,LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR are part of physical rehabilitation solutions that are now available. Relatively inexpensive the TUTOR system allows for intensive exercises through the use of dedicated and customized software. The HANDTUTOR which is an ergonomic glove and the LEGTUTOR and ARMTUTOR which are braces detect finger, wrist, leg, ankle and hip movements. This information is recorded and allows the therapist to fully customize the treatment session. The exercises thus provide augmented feedback which then leads to enhanced functional rehabilitation. These physical rehabilitation products are in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals and clinics. The TUTOR system can also be used by the patient from his own home through the use of telerehabiliation. See See WWW.HANDTUTOR.COM and WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.

Hi Tech Systems Available for Everyone

People that have disabilities are a group within society that could gain much from all the new technologies but somehow they have one of the lowest rates of usage of these technologies. Therefore benefits of using a computer and the internet are underused at best.
Actually one of the reasons for this phenomenon is that a large percentage of these disabled people are poor and therefore don’t have access to this equipment or its monthly maintenance charges. Unfortunately these people don’t understand how the internet and computers can give them a greater sense of independence and would allow them to integrate into society.
Some Internet service providers have come up with a solution and will provide a free computer for those that sign up for a long term subscription. In addition there are simpler user interfaces that are available to allow more comfortable usage of the technology. This is especially helpful to some elderly people. Of course a period of educating this segment of society to the possibilities is necessary before many of them begin to take advantage of the technology. Once that’s accomplished there will have to be training and support afforded to them.
Those that are disabled due to a stroke, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease,upper or lower limb surgery and other disabling illnesses or injuries will find much needed help in one of the newest physical rehabilitation solutions available. The TUTOR system consisting of the HANDTUTOR, ARMTUTOR,LEGTUTOR and 3DTUTOR are part of physical rehabilitation solutions that are now available. Relatively inexpensive the TUTOR system allows for intensive exercises through the use of dedicated and customized software. The HANDTUTOR which is an ergonomic glove and the LEGTUTOR and ARMTUTOR which are braces detect finger, wrist, leg, ankle and hip movements. This information is recorded and allows the therapist to fully customize the treatment session. The exercises thus provide augmented feedback which then leads to enhanced functional rehabilitation. These physical rehabilitation products are in use in leading U.S. and European hospitals and clinics. The TUTOR system can also be used by the patient from his own home through the use of telerehabiliation. See WWW.MEDITOUCH.CO.IL for more information.