Using VR to Help Paraplegics

August 18, 2016, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Virtual reality, Oculus Rift, avatars, all words that we associate with gaming and teenaged boys in the basement or their bedrooms. Welcome to the new reality of treating paraplegics and recovery from injury.

It's a spectacular leap of therapeutic modality incorporating virtual reality and game theory into recovery and physiotherapy. We now have treatments that help teach paraplegics walk again using brain controlled exoskeletons in tandem with virtual reality created scenarios that keep the patient motivated and interested in their treatments.

Scientists use exoskeletons reading brain waves combined with simulated movements with virtual or physical assistance. They also wore a special sleeve that gave them physical feedbacks like vibrations or pressure when their thoughts induced limb movement.

This new treatment has been pioneered by The Walk Again Project founded in 2013. It represents an international group of scientists with the goal of teaching paraplegics to walk again. Their first study, although small with only 8 patients, has been using something called a BMI or Brain Machine Interface to train people to walk again. After only 10 months of training the patients have been able to move and feel their legs. Some of the people had been paraplegic for ten years. One of them has become pregnant and delivered a child, another drives a car. The improvements have exceeded the expectations of the scientists so far, and they are gearing up to expand the clinical trials.

The really exciting result of the study so far is that even in cases of complete spinal cord injury here may be some nerve tissue left that can be reactivated after years of inaction. This coupled with work using stem cell transplants is creating a very exciting future for research for those who have become paraplegic due to accidents.

According to one of the main researchers, Dr. Miguel A. L. Nicolelis, "Brain machine interfaces in the future may not just be an assistive technology to restore mobility. The combination of brain machine interfaces with other therapies may lead to a new therapy."

You can read more about the Long-Term Training with a Brain-Machine Interface-Based Gait Protocol Induces Partial Neurological Recovery in Paraplegic Patients study here.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

The opinions expressed here, while intended to provide useful information, should not be interpreted as legal recommendations or advice.