Recovery hope for paralytic stroke patients from Robot Hand

Robotic hand has been found to be quite effective in restoration of the hand-function in the management of persons with Hemiplegia, she claimed. ​
Shifa treating Shakuntala with the help of robotic hand at SVNIRTAR at Olatpur | Express
Shifa treating Shakuntala with the help of robotic hand at SVNIRTAR at Olatpur | Express

CUTTACK: The patients suffering from paralysis after a stroke can now find hope in early recovery. A robotic hand developed by a student of Swami Vivekananda National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR) at Olatpur, helps in restoring the hand functions after the stroke.The prototype of the device developed by Shifa Khan, pursuing Masters in Physiotherapy (MPT) of the institution under the guidance of Dr PP Mohanty and Dr Monalisha Patnaik, has been tried on 30 Hemiplegia patients successfully in the last two years. Hemiplegia occurs due to brain stroke usually paralysing one side of the body. The upper limbs are more affected than the lower limbs and the hand function is worst affected, said Shifa.

Robotic hand has been found to be quite effective in restoration of the hand-function in the management of persons with Hemiplegia, she claimed. The Robotic Hand is not only simple to operate but also cost effective, she added. “It is made of an embedded controller and a robotic hand module, which provide patients assistive power to perform hand movements and gradually boost re-learning in the brain of stroke patients,” said Khan.

According to Shifa, once the robotic hand is attached to the patient’s fingers and hand, it begins to detect his or her intention to move through signals from the Hemiplegic side measured by surface electromyography. A nervous response then sets the robotic hand in motion to move the patient’s stiff hand at his or her own will. The device affords substantial flexibility, as each finger assembly can be adjusted to fit different finger lengths.

Unlike the case with conventional rehabilitation treatment, the assistive power from the robotic hand helps the person overcome muscle and joint stiffness, thus allowing him to open or close a paralysed hand or pick up items according to his necessity. Through repetitive exercises, the hand motions send feedback to the patient’s brain, helping it rewire itself in response to new experiences, she said.  The device has been developed by Shifa in collaboration with Eidetic InfoTech Private Limited. A woman patient Shakuntala Palai, undergoing treatment, said the robotic hand has helped her move her fingers  and hopes to use her hand normally soon.

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