A stroke, previously known medically as a Cerebro vascular accident (CVA), is the rapidly developing loss of brain function(s) due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of blood flow) caused by blockage (arterial embolism) or a hemorrhage (leakage of blood). As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body.
In the United States more than 700,000 people suffer a stroke each year, and approximately two-thirds of these individuals survive and require rehabilitation. The goals of rehabilitation are to help survivors become as independent as possible and to attain the best possible quality of life. Even though rehabilitation does not “cure” stroke in that it does not reverse brain damage, rehabilitation can substantially help people achieve the best possible long-term outcome.
Paralysis is one of the most common disabilities resulting from stroke. The paralysis is usually on the side of the body opposite the side of the brain damaged by the stroke, and may affect the face, arm, leg, or the entire side of the body. This one-sided paralysis is called hemiplegia (one-sided weakness is called hemiparesis). Stroke patients with hemiparesis or hemiplegia may have difficulty with everyday activities such as walking or grasping objects.
After a stroke, the damaged lobe loses the ability to control its limbs (the crossover limbs) while the neighboring lobe may remain unharmed and fully in control of its limbs. It has been clinically proven that one lobe can be trained to control not only the crossover limbs but the limbs on the same side as well. This fact is the driving force behind physical therapy treatments for stroke victims.
Dysfunction of a limb and inability to move and perform functional activities of every day live, which calls for physical therapy, can be caused by at least two types of injuries; neurological injuries and physical injuries. Neurological injuries can include trauma brain injuries (TBI) due to external mechanical force on the brain and non-traumatic brain injuries due to internal deficiencies which damage the brain, e.g. stroke. Physical injuries are injuries caused by external force directly on one of the limbs.
To enable a person who suffered from a stroke or any other injury that causes dysfunction of a limb, to restore, as much as possible, normal functioning of the disabled limb, many hours of physical therapy are necessary. For best results physical therapy should start as soon as possible after injury; in the case of stroke, preferably within 24 to 48 hours. However, because of lack of rehabilitation centers, shortage of physical therapists and experts the average patient begins therapy after the critical period and, after starting physical therapy, the patient receives only infrequent sessions.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for treating neurological injured victims that will improve physical therapy results and educating crossover healthy parts of the brain to control the limb instead of the injured part.
It is a purpose of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for treating individuals, who have medical problems or other health-related conditions, illnesses, or injuries that limit their abilities to move and perform functional activities as well as they would like in their daily lives.
It is yet another purpose of the present invention to reduce the cost of rehabilitation by enabling a patient to train himself and reduce the hours of work with a physical therapist.
It is another purpose of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for a physical and neurological therapy training program which will restore normal functioning of a disabled limb and enable an individual stroke victim to function in a nearly normal fashion in real life situations.
Further purposes and advantages of this invention will appear as the description proceeds.