'Wii-hab' Speeds Recovery Process by Shanderia Posey

Will Graves, 16, never imagined a video game system he played at home would one day be instrumental in his recovery from sudden paralysis. But each weekday at Methodist Rehabilitation Center in Jackson, the teen takes in 30-minute sessions of "Wii-habilitation" by playing Nintendo's Wii Sports games such as boxing, tennis and most recently, baseball. Playing the interactive games, which requires players to take actual swings or punches, is part of Will's recreational therapy since a New Year's Eve car wreck left him paralyzed from the waist down. Will is known as "The Comeback Kid" for his Wii-hab tennis skills and has beaten his therapeutic recreational therapist, Courtney Jones, countless times. "He's teaching me a thing or two about tennis," says Jones, who's constantly cheering Will on each time he scores. He's been at Methodist Rehab since Jan. 12 after days in the intensive care unit at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. The past three weeks of Wii-hab is showing promising results. "I've got to where I can actually play longer. I've built up my endurance where I can sit up and play the whole 30 minutes without taking breaks," Will said. At first Will could only play the games while sitting in his wheelchair. Now, he can sit on a mat and play without the support of the chair. The constant swings and punches he throws to play the games have strengthened his lower arms so much he no longer wears dorsal wrist splints. "It takes a while, but he's gotten a lot better. He's doing really good," Jones said. The sessions target Will's left and right upper extremities. Strengthening and endurance, eye-hand coordination, reaction time and a little cardio is thrown in, too. Will's mom, Mary Margaret Graves, notices another benefit of Wii-hab's effect on her son - motivation. "It's therapy, but it's fun. It's an added bonus," said Mary Margaret, who describes Will as being competitive his whole life. Will is president of his junior class at West Jones High School in Jones County. He played tight-end on the football team on which his dad, Wayne Graves, serves as defensive coach. Wayne Graves was selected as coach of the year last season. Will is in the Beta Club and various other honor clubs at school and takes advanced classes. He had just made the tennis team before the accident. "I think it's (Wii-hab) caught fire across the country in nursing homes and rehab facilities because the patients start doing things that they don't realize they were doing and that just helps in their recovery," Mary Margaret said. "They stand up for so much longer while they're doing something like this rather than just say, 'Ok, let's see how long you can stand?' " Jones said. The hospital implemented the video game system into therapy sessions about six months ago to complement traditional, more labored therapy. Use of the system reaps benefits. "Patients look forward to therapy. They are better engaged," said Suzy Mayer, director of therapy services at Methodist Rehab. Mayer explains the Wii is entertaining, gives immediate feedback, works the fine and gross motor skills and stores information that can be tracked, which thereby measures a patient's progress. The system has become popular among physical therapy programs across the country. Though there's no hard data on whether Wii-hab works better than traditional therapy, Mayer said, "You can assume it does because of the motivational factor." For example, one bilateral amputee (loss of both legs) patient never wanted to come out of his room for traditional sessions, but he began waiting at his door for staffers once Wii-hab sessions began, Mayer said. Other Wii-hab games patients play include golf, bowling, skiing, walking a tight rope and yoga. The rehab center has a second Wii system on the fifth floor for brain injury patients. "There's something that's going to interest everybody," Mayer said, explaining that older patients tend to enjoy golf and bowling. It's uncertain when Will will return home to Hebron, a community between Laurel and Collins. But his mom says they are looking forward to getting him caught up with school this summer so he can start school in the fall as a senior. He aspires to be an engineer and already has researched what the state's universities have to offer. Mary Margaret has chronicled Will's recovery on a Caring Bridge Web site with day-by-day details of his progress. Ironically, she has worked with handicapped and special needs individuals for 19 years in an early intervention program with the state. She admits her career has helped her handle Will's diagnosis. She and Wayne are staying in an apartment in Belhaven until Will is released from the center, but they try to go home once a week where their 10-year-old daughter Sara, who really misses her big brother, is staying with grandparents. Mary Margaret is considering purchasing a Wii Fit system at home; the family already has the exact Wii Sports system Will plays at the rehab center. One thing is certain, Will plans to keep winning no matter what. The West Jones' football team slogan was "no quit in me." That fits Will's attitude perfectly. With practice, therapist Jones was able to beat Will maybe twice on the Wii. But Will isn't about to give her many props for her accomplishment: "I've heard it enough," he said.

Guitar Heroes: APL Riff on Video Game Helps Prosthetic Patients By Paulette Campbell Applied Physics Laboratory Wii-habilitation" - using Nintendo's Wii video game system in rehabilitation therapy - continues to be popular with health care workers looking to help patients get through what some see as the pain and torture of physical therapy. Now two engineers in APL's National Security Technology Department have cranked that concept up a notch. Bobby Armiger and Jacob Vogelstein have rewired Nintendo's Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock game to allow amputees to rock out and get valuable training with prosthetic prototypes at the same time. Their gaming is part of the APL-led Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 effort, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, to develop a prosthetic arm that will be controlled and also feel, look and perform like a natural limb. So far the project has produced two prototypes and has leveraged a surgical technique, developed at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago by Todd Kuiken, that reroutes the nerves that once controlled an amputee's arm to remaining muscles. These "re- innervated" muscles naturally amplify the nerve signals so that electrodes placed against the skin can detect activity and control the prosthetic arm. The surgery has enabled patients to control the first prototype arm and will eventually be used to control individual fingers of the final prosthetic design. But for the arm to operate correctly using these rerouted nerves, the system must learn to interpret the patient's muscle signals. The process is similar to training voice-recognition software where, for example, you are prompted to read the Gettysburg Address, except that instead of analyzing tones, the APL system records and classifies muscle twitches. This training takes place in a Virtual Integration Environment, another RP 2009 innovation. "In the VIE, an animated on-screen arm mimics the patient's intended movements in real time, based on inputs from the electrodes attached to the user's residual muscles," Vogelstein explains. "For the training, a patient sits in front of a computer and an on-screen prompt tells them to 'flex your wrist,' 'extend your wrist,' 'close your fist,' etc." Calibrating the mechanical limbs to recognize and respond properly to electrical signals in an amputee's residual muscles is an exhausting and draining process, says Armiger, who has been on the front lines of training the system to respond naturally to the patient. "There is no real interaction and no feedback," he says. "And there is no encouragement for the patient to do more or do it better." The idea to adapt the game for amputees came to Armiger while he was playing Guitar Hero at a party. He and Vogelstein borrowed a colleague's copy of the game and modified the controller with a soldering iron to allow it to be controlled by the VIE. Then, button clicks were substituted with muscle contraction signals as picked up by the electrodes. Last fall, Armiger and Vogelstein traveled to RP 2009 partner Duke University to test the rigged system on Iraq veteran Jonathan Kuniholm, who lost his right hand to shrapnel in 2005. With electrodes attached to what was left of his arm, Kuniholm was able to operate the frets using signals from his muscles. The researchers found that playing a game is a far more intuitive way to speed up the tedious calibration process and make it more fun for volunteers. "It allows for large numbers of rapid, dynamic movements that are more natural and not stereotyped," Vogelstein says. "Ultimately we are going to get more input and longer training cycles out of patients - and that will translate to better and more natural limb control." Armiger and Vogelstein next want to adapt a tennis game to train people with more radical amputations. "Eventually we want to make our software open source so that people can repurpose other games for rehabilitation," Armiger says.

Wii-Habilitation Comes To HAH by Mary Galer The latest in video game technology has also become one of the newest trends in physical therapy and rehabilitation. Just two weeks ago, Teamwork Rehab, the physical therapy department at Hillsboro Area Hospital, acquired its newest piece of equipment, a Nintendo Wii video gaming system. "It's definitely becoming a trend," said Director of Rehabilitation Chris Whitten. "Several physical therapy departments and nursing homes are using them as part of their rehabilitation programs." What sets the Wii system apart from other gaming systems is not the games themselves, like tennis, bowling or golf, but rather the way they are played. Wii uses a wireless controller, the player uses the same arm motion as if he or she were really playing the sport, such as swinging a bat or rolling a bowling ball. In many cases, it's the same motion already being used in physical therapy. "Not only does it help our patients to become more active, but they are also really enjoying it and having fun," Whitten said. Lloyd Whitworth, age 78, of Hillsboro, spent three to four weeks in a hospital bed recovering from back surgery, and when he first started therapy at Teamwork Rehab, he came in a wheelchair. "They're trying to get me back on my feet," he said. Whitworth started his physical therapy about a month ago, using various machines in the rehab room, doing stretching and balancing exercises, and he even worked his way up to walking around the track. But the most fun of his exercises is his competition with Whitten at Wii bowling. In order to swing, patients must be able to step forward and stand balanced. "I think it's helped me get a better sense of balance," Whitworth said. "It's a lot more fun than the sitting down and standing up exercises." His personal best score is 146, though his ultimate goal is to beat Whitten. "I wish you could have seen him when he first came in," Whitten said. "He came in his wheelchair, and now is standing and driving himself to therapy." Whitten said in addition to the balance it takes to stand and bowl, it also increases Whitworth's stamina, since he has to stand around 10 or 15 minutes to play. For games like tennis, boxing and baseball, patients are not only able to improve their balance, but their range of motion as well. "We've seen increases in balance, strength and stamina for our patients," Whitten said. "We can't attribute all of that to the Wii, but it certainly doesn't hurt." In addition to the Wii Sports, the hospital also has Wii Fit, which provides additional activities. It has many balance games that are good for weight shifting, weight transfer and generally maintaining center of gravity. Whitten said the Wii also provides a good motivator for patients to complete their regular rehab sessions so they can play a game before heading for home. Teamwork Rehab is also beginning to use the Wii with stroke patients. The hospital has only had the Wii gaming system for a few weeks, so Teamwork Rehab staff members are still getting to learn the games it offers. "We like to call it research," Whitten said. Staff members challenge each other in various games, as well as competing against patients. Ski jumping is the favorite among the staff. "So far the benefits are endless," Whitten said. "The trend toward technology in all aspects of health care are great. While we have used many balance devices in the past like a maze game or sounds, nothing has compared to what the Wii has done for both the patient and the therapist."

‘Wii Fit helped me to walk again’

Thursday, 22 January 2009

A young Irish girl has learned to walk again thanks to her doctors — and a computer game. Nicole Cahill (10) from Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, took her first steps in four years years at a New York hospital late last year. Since returning home on December 14, Nicole has stunned family and friends with her progress and is now expected to walk unaided by the end of the year.

Nicole’s mum, Mairead, said: “She’s doing really well. She’s in therapy nearly six days a week now,” says Mairead. “At home she’s not using the walking frame and she leaves it at the side of the wall in school. “We’ll have to wait and see but we think she’s doing so well that she’ll be walking [unaided] sooner than we think.” 

The hotel’s instructors will be looking after Nicole from now on, and in between therapy she uses one of her most prized Christmas presents to keep strengthening her muscles. “The Wii Fit has really helped. It’s great because there are so many balancing and stretching exercises on it. “I also do yoga with her at home, and she does exercises on a ball. The Wii has taken an awful lot of pressure off her as well.”

Nicole spent six months in a New York rehabilitation hospital to get back on her feet after a virus left her paralysed at only six years of age.

Seacroft Hospital: Wii helps patients learn to walk again VIDEO

Watch video showcasing why the Wii is helping patients with prosthetic limbs at Seacroft Hospital walk again.  Senior physiotherapist Lynn Hirst puts David Crossland through his paces on the Wii at Seacroft Hospital.  Patients with prosthetic limbs at Seacroft Hospital are finding a computer console Wii-lly useful in helping them walk again. Physiotherapists are among the first in the country to use a Nintendo Wii console with the Wii Fit game and balance board. Patients like David Crossland can ski down a mountain or head a football during sessions using the machine - even though he has a prosthetic leg.It can help people who have had a lower leg amputated learn to use their prosthetic limb. Standing on the pressure sensitive board, it assesses where their centre of gravity is which means they can balance better. The games are not only fun but are similar to physiotherapy exercises. Mr Crossland had his lower leg amputated six months ago after problems following an accident when he was a teenager. The 60-year-old has regular physiotherapy at Seacroft and uses the Wii. "It's marvellous," he said. It makes sure you have got your balance which is very important when you are learning to walk again. The Wii gives you confidence in yourself to go out and feel you are not going to fall on the floor, which is a great thing." Seacroft Hospital League of Friends funded the console after regional prosthetics physiotherapist Lynn Hirst told them how useful it would be, especially for younger patients. She said: "The most difficult thing for a prosthetic patient is getting their weight through the prosthetic limb. "With the balance board it shows them where they are taking their weight through. "To back that up there's some very lively games which make them take their weight right or left, forward or back, and that improves their core stability and their balance." She said it had been a hit with patients of all ages. "It's been absolutely fantastic." "It's a format that the younger patients know straight away and we've actually had a lady in her 90s who was fascinated by it."

Fun and games, the key to rehabilitation

Thursday 18th December 2008 STROKE patients at Trafford General Hospital are enjoying rehabilitation - in the form of video games - to help their co-ordination, balance and physical mobility, thanks to fundraising by a former patient and his friends at Urmston Men's Club. Jim Cork, 69, from Urmston, used to be the compere at Urmston Men's Club and was treated at Trafford General when he had a stroke in August 2007. He wanted to help other patients on the stroke unit, so organised a fundraising evening last summer at Urmston Men's Club. The evening raised more than £1,400, enabling the purchase of a Nintendo Wii console and plasma screen for Trafford General's stroke unit. Wii is a computer games system that detects players' movements and translates them into the action on screen. Players can engage in virtual rounds of golf, bowling competitions and even boxing matches by using the Wii remote control to hit the ball, bowl or throw a punch. It means stroke patients at Trafford General will be able to use Wii to aid their recovery in a fun way by having bowling or golf competitions with each other. The Wii system will mainly be used during recreation time and will be in addition to the usual therapies provided to stroke patients. The games can be played from either a standing or a sitting position, making them suited to patients of different ability levels. Jim said: "The unit has given me a lot of help so I wanted to say thanks. I hope that patients on the unit enjoy using the Wii and that it helps them in their recovery." Stroke unit physiotherapist, Sjoerd Jorritsma, said: "We would like to thank Jim and his friends at Urmston Men's Club for this fantastic donation, which will help patients recovering from stroke. As well as being fun, there is some anecdotal evidence that Wii has therapeutic benefits by encouraging people who have experienced stroke to be active and practise their eye-hand coordination, balance and concentration. "These are all skills that can be affected by stroke but rehabilitation can help people improve and make as good a recovery as possible. Our patients will now be able to use Wii as an additional part of that rehabilitation." Urmston Men's Club president, Peter Radley, said: "Urmston Men's Club is proud of its efforts in supporting local charities, and particularly Trafford General Hospital, and we will continue with our support. We wish the stroke unit continuing success with its efforts for local people. Due to Jim's high profile on our committee, it was fitting to offer our support on this particular occasion."

http://tinyurl.com/vetstbi

VIRTUAL HEALING, By Vanessa Fultz, Democrat Reporter For two months now, patients at Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center have been playing games to get well. Suwannee Health and Rehab has implemented a Nintendo Wii game system to enhance its therapy program. The gaming system benefits patients who are diagnosed with various aliments, including cardio-pulmonary difficulties, joint problems, osteoarthritis and stroke. Wii is an interactive system in which players act out the movements of the games they are playing. In Wii baseball, for example, players swing the game controller as if it were a bat. Lana Rhoden, rehab director at Suwannee Health and Rehabilitation Center (formerly Suwannee Health Care Center), said the Wii system enhances patients' recovery and lets them have fun in the process. "It gives us alternatives as far as the traditional therapy goes, because with the Wii you can combine sensory, motor, and balance when you're using it," Rhoden said. The Wii system benefits the center's residents, as well as outpatients and patients planning to return home after therapy. With Wii, patients can bowl, box and play baseball, tennis and golf. The system is used during physical and occupational therapy to work on upper and lower body strength, balance, coordination and endurance. Speech therapy patients benefit from the attention, problem-solving and sequencing components of the games. "A lot of our men like to do the baseball and golf and the ladies seem to prefer the bowling and the tennis," Rhoden said. Patricia Meier, a resident at the facility, played Wii bowling during a six month program to promote balance and hand-eye coordination. She returns to the game from time to time to maintain her strength and to have fun. "I used to do bowling years ago. I used to bowl all the time," she said. "I love it." "I have Alzheimer's and had six strokes," Meier said. "I couldn't balance myself at all. I came in here and they helped me and now I'm able to walk without the walker." Another patient, Miles Robinson, has been playing Wii baseball for the last three weeks. The game helps him build strength, hand-eye coordination and balance, to reduce the risk of falling. "It's pretty good," Robinson said. "It will keep you limber." "We're looking for new and innovative ways to help people get home faster," said Greg Roberts, administrator of the facility. With Wii, he seems to have found one.

As part of a DARPA initiative for prosthetics research, scientists are now able to reroute the nerves that once controlled an amputee’s arm to the chest muscles, where electrodes can then pick up the electromyographic signals to control a mechanical arm.

But the process of learning how to accurately control a prosthetic arm, not to mention individual fingers, using only twitches of the chest, can be a slow and discouraging one. So researchers at Johns Hopkins University hacked a Guitar Hero controller so that its color-coded frets could be controlled with signals from the electrodes.

They tested the Air Guitar Hero system on Iraq veteran Jon Kuniholm, who lost his right hand three years ago. With electrodes attached to what was left of his arm and a little practice, Kuniholm was able to score a respectable 70 percent on the easy level. “

Do you think this is a good way to use the Wii? What are your experiences?

Therapists use video games to motivate patientsWhile gamers spend countless hours in front of television screens and battle thumb fatigue on a daily basis, they may meet their match if they do battle with some local therapy patients. The Thibodaux Regional Medical Center’s Outpatient Rehabilitation program has found a new, fun way to carry out its mission and in the strangest of ways … video games. “We’ve used the Nintendo Wii for the last five months with appropriate patients in our clinic,” said Jason Ledet, program director of both in- and outpatient programs for Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. He said appropriate patients fall under several categories including patients with balance issues, strokes and brain injuries. Rehab officials say they have received positive feedback from the gaming system’s use. “Most of our patients really enjoy it; the kids love it,” physical therapist Jennifer Matherne said. “Some of our older patients enjoy it too; those with head injuries or strokes - it’s a challenge for them but it also let’s them play a little and help them to remember they can still have fun.” Ledet said the particular game used is dependent upon the patient and their needs. “We’ve used tennis, golf, bowling and especially the Wii fitness game which we use to improve balance and weight shifts,” he said.