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Robotic Device Helps Spinal Injury Patients Move Again

A single patient trial of a robotic exoskeleton-like device that can be used to help patients with spinal cord injury experience movement is creating a buzz that has that Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers excited.  The trial was conducted at Rice University, and the device is called the RiceWrist Robot.

The patient in the study is professional motocross rider Randy Childers.  Childers was seriously injured in a motocross accident in Texas in 2010.  He was left with broken ribs, multiple fractures, and the most devastating injury of all, a spinal cord injury.  He underwent extensive surgery in Houston, which involve surgeons inserting artificial vertebra into his spine.  Childers also went underwent extensive rehabilitation therapy, and within a few months, regained enough ability to be able to walk slowly.

Soon after, he began clinical trials of the RiceWrist device.  The device is a robotic exoskeleton device that is meant to be worn by the patient.  The device mimics the joints of the limbs from the shoulder to the hand.  The device is designed to retrain the motor neuron pathways of patients with spinal cord injury.  According to the researchers, Rice has a fully customizable assist-as-needed architecture that allows users to complete a given task to the best of their ability.  Once the user has reached his limit, the device kicks in to complete a task.  In the current version of the device, the degree of assistance is set by a therapist.  However, in the future, the plan is to have a performance-based system, where the control architecture itself sets the degree of assistance.

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When Childers began using the device, his ability to perform certain tasks became smoother.  After using this device for two weeks, he was able to do most of the work himself without the device having to kick in.

According to the researchers, is important for there to be motivation for the device work.  There has to be some intentional movement for the person to really find this device useful.  What is needed is for the patient start thinking about moving, which can fire up the brain and spinal cord, helping in remapping.

The device has now moved from Rice University to the University Of Texas Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Motor Recovery Lab at the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research.  There, researchers are currently evaluating the device for its effectiveness in treating other patients with spinal cord injury.  Further, other control studies are also being planned to understand the effectiveness of the device in helping spinal cord injury patients move normally again.

The device uses the benefits of repetitive movement to help spinal cord injury victims, but it depends heavily on the intent of the individual.  Whatever results have been seen so far are encouraging, and Los Angeles spinal cord injury lawyers will be following additional research into the device.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of spinal cord injuries. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire to discuss a personal injury matter,  you can reach us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not representing any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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