More roles of robots in spinal cord rehabilitation
A patient with a spinal cord injury exercises with the aid of a rehabilitation robot.
Rehabilitation robots and high-tech evaluation equipment are now being widely used in the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with spinal cord injuries.
There are more than 3.7 million people in China with spinal cord injuries, and 90,000 new patients annually.
A spinal cord injury seriously impacts a person's life quality and social function.
People between 31 and 60 years old cover 85.6 percent of the total Chinese patients.
It is important to promote the awareness of early and proper rehabilitation for better life quality and a quicker return to the society, medical experts told a charity event ahead of World Spinal Cord Injury Day, which falls on Monday.
"Most spinal cord injury is caused by accidents or diseases," said Xie Haixia from Tongji University's Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital. "Comprehensive and timely treatment and rehabilitation can prevent further deterioration, reduce complications, prevent and control disability and help patients regain body function.
The hospital is the nation's first facility to launch physical and psychological rehabilitation for spinal cord injury patients as a trial.
A rehabilitation therapist checks a patient's leg using an intelligent system.
Experts said artificial intelligence has been widely introduced to support and guide rehabilitation. For patients with spinal cord injury, the low-limb rehabilitation robots can help patients practice their legs and strength. Intelligent equipment can perform calculations to help medics set the most suitable frequency and intensity of machines for each patient.
During the charity event, many patients tried rehabilitation robots, which help them stand up and walk by themselves, bringing strong hope.
"The earlier the rehabilitation the better effects," Xie said. "We encourage patients to undergo proper training soon after their condition is stable. Staying on the bed and refusing rehabilitation can result in deformed limbs, urinary system infection and bed sores, which can worse life quality and impact life span.
"Proper rehabilitation is also good for mental health and help patients have a positive status."
