WORLD-leading research at the University of Newcastle is giving stroke victims a leg up in their rehabilitation efforts.
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With a little help from HELLEN – the Hunter’s Exoskeleton for Lower Limb Exercise and Neuro-rehabilitation – local stroke victims have begun participating in a clinical trial to determine whether robotic exercise therapy can improve patient outcomes.
It comes as the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Stroke Rehabilitation and Brain Recovery stages a three-day forum at Hunter Medical Research Institute from today.
Senior researcher, Jodie Marquez, said the 12-week exercise program was the first trial of its kind to use a free-standing exoskeleton such as HELLEN to help people who have severe mobility problems following a stroke.
Although it was still in its infancy, she said the trial was showing promising results.
“All of the evidence suggests that to make good rehabilitation gains, you need to exercise at a high intensity and a high volume,” Ms Marquez, a physiotherapist with a special interest in neurological rehabilitation, said.
“For patients with severe mobility deficits, it’s often too labour-intensive – it requires a lot of therapists, and it’s hard work for patients to try and get up, so they are often denied the option of ongoing upright therapy.
“The way we’re using HELLEN is as a replacement therapist to facilitate active engagement in exercise.”
HELLEN is a hands-free, self-supporting robot, which enables individuals with neurological conditions to stand, walk and participate in robotic exercise therapy.
PhD student Nicola Postol said they hoped using HELLEN in this trial would be proven to create new brain pathways for patients by facilitating “neuroplasticity.”
The trial will expand to include patients with multiple sclerosis.
The Hunter Stroke Research Volunteer Register, which launched earlier this year, has passed 100 registrations and is now feeding its first members into clinical trials such as this one.
The register recruits a database of stroke patients who are interested in contributing to research.
