A Bionic Leg That Rewires Stroke Victims' Brains

waderoush writes "A startup called Tibion in Sunnyvale, CA, has begun selling battery-powered robotic exoskeletons that help stroke victims with one-sided weakness relearn how to stand, sit, walk, and negotiate stairs. The leg isn't a permanent attachment; the company says patients who use the device for 45 minutes a week for four weeks experience significant gains in walking speed that persist and even improve months after the treatment. They believe that the $40,000 device — which includes sensors that respond to subtle signs of user intentions, such a shift in weight — provides feedback that triggers neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to rewire itself to repair damage."

Re:Are there any studies?

[spads]

What seems to be the contention here, is the possibly unique advantage of, specifically, proprioceptive feedback, as opposed to the more conventional theory of standard exercise, in re-wiring these atrophied areas of the brain. Proprioceptive feedback is specifically the feedback sent to the brain from a limb due to its re-positioning (in space). The atrophy of the brain area might obviate the possibility of normal exercise. Thus, the question comes, might any benefit be purely gained from an externally driven re-positioning (ie. to drive a proprioceptive process)? Also, the timed disengagement of such a facilitated re-positioning could couple pure proprioception and active exercise, if it reaches a range for which the neural machinery is still active. Of course, this part is highly conjectory, as remains the theory of pure proprioceptive rehabilitization itself.

This theory just reminds me of something which I feel has been rehabilitory for my own atrophy following a couple of knee procedures over 30 years ago - the elliptical runner. This, too, does a facilitated (passive) action (ie. the normal rotation of the machine pedals, driven by both legs), coupled with active action, as one pushes against the pedals. Notably, a concsious effort seems (unsurprisingly) beneficial here, as the atrophy of the limb can be well conceived as a sort of "hollowness" which you are attempting to restore.

In any case, there seemed to be some interesting parallels here. For myself, I don't see any particular advantages over the elliptical runner, though there could be for those for whom that would prove too vigorous.