News Archive
Spring-loaded 'glove' will help stroke patients
By Dominic Musgrave
STROKE patients at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre will benefit from a unique spring-loaded 'glove' that helps them gain the reuse of a partially paralysed hand.
Stroke patients currently under rehabilitation programmes at the NOC's Oxford Centre for Enablement, will be introduced to the Saebo arm training programme which enables patients who have suffered a neurological trauma, such as stroke, to begin to regain some of the muscle tone and coordination to the affected arm.
The SaeboFlex orthosis was originally developed in the United States and is an occupational therapy tool that has proven highly effective, even for patients who were advised that their chances for improvement were virtually non-existent.
Research has shown that patients following the Saeboflex programme demonstrated improved ability following a relatively short space of time. In one case a patient was able to type, get dressed and even begin to learn to play the guitar after a six-month period of regular treatment.
The SaeboFlex does not have any mechanical parts to drive the activity, so the improvements that are experienced result from the efforts put forth by the patient and not through mechanised assistance.
NOC senior physiotherapist, Jo Pierce said: "We're very excited about introducing this new way of treating patients at the NOC. It's a relatively new rehabilitative tool that, as yet, is not widely used in this country and not at all within the NHS or other specialist neurological rehabilitation treatment centres. Many of the patients we treat have varying levels of disability that has resulted from some neurological trauma, like stroke. The results that can be achieved by using a tool like the SaeboFlex are really impressive and we're all really excited at having this as part of our treatment equipment."
Six spring-loaded Saeboflex 'gloves' have been purchased for the Headington-based centre's neuro-rehabilitation gymnasium, and staff have been trained to teach patients how to use the specialist equipment.
Training and assessment for out-patients will be on offer and patients who would benefit from the technology and are staying in the 16 in-patient beds will also be able to use the device.
By Dominic Musgrave
STROKE patients at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre will benefit from a unique spring-loaded 'glove' that helps them gain the reuse of a partially paralysed hand.
Stroke patients currently under rehabilitation programmes at the NOC's Oxford Centre for Enablement, will be introduced to the Saebo arm training programme which enables patients who have suffered a neurological trauma, such as stroke, to begin to regain some of the muscle tone and coordination to the affected arm.
The SaeboFlex orthosis was originally developed in the United States and is an occupational therapy tool that has proven highly effective, even for patients who were advised that their chances for improvement were virtually non-existent.
Research has shown that patients following the Saeboflex programme demonstrated improved ability following a relatively short space of time. In one case a patient was able to type, get dressed and even begin to learn to play the guitar after a six-month period of regular treatment.
The SaeboFlex does not have any mechanical parts to drive the activity, so the improvements that are experienced result from the efforts put forth by the patient and not through mechanised assistance.
NOC senior physiotherapist, Jo Pierce said: "We're very excited about introducing this new way of treating patients at the NOC. It's a relatively new rehabilitative tool that, as yet, is not widely used in this country and not at all within the NHS or other specialist neurological rehabilitation treatment centres. Many of the patients we treat have varying levels of disability that has resulted from some neurological trauma, like stroke. The results that can be achieved by using a tool like the SaeboFlex are really impressive and we're all really excited at having this as part of our treatment equipment."
Six spring-loaded Saeboflex 'gloves' have been purchased for the Headington-based centre's neuro-rehabilitation gymnasium, and staff have been trained to teach patients how to use the specialist equipment.
Training and assessment for out-patients will be on offer and patients who would benefit from the technology and are staying in the 16 in-patient beds will also be able to use the device.
